Heroes of Olympus : The Invasion of the Land of the Dead
by Aix98
Summary: It's been three years since the war with Gaia and the disappearance of Percy and Jason. The Delphic Oracle has gone silent as well as Olympus. Things have been slightly normal for the past three years. But that all changed when they met a foreign demigod by the name of Asanagi, who's from a different pantheon. A whole new world will be unveiled as a new threat emerges from the Yomi
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I have a really bad habit of writing stories and never really finishing them. I need help. Btw this is a new concept of story that might get your attention. Give it a go.**

**P/S: Had to do a bunch of research though. No spoilers, but the people who relate to the stuff I'm writing please don't be offended. I'm just a fan of your culture.**

**Chapter 1**

After the war with Gaia ended, Annabeth thought that was it. No more wars. No more deities out for blood. No more stupid quests that takes months to accomplish and no more venturing through Tartarus.

She and Percy will finally get their time together like they've always deserved. They were going to New Rome together and start college there.

And yet things had to go wrong in the worst way possible for her.

After Gaia went up in a fiery ball of explosion, Percy and Jason both disappeared. Jason was sent flying to god knows where and Percy was swallowed by the ocean, which was ridiculous because he had control over water.

At first, Annabeth thought it was a practical joke. They thought it'd be funny if they pretended to disappear just to scare them. Then after not returning for a day, Annabeth got worried. That day turned into weeks and it turned into months. Annabeth was worried sick.

She tried asking Rachel if she had anything about Percy and Jason, but Rachel said that the Delphic Oracle had gone silent. Chiron didn't know anything about it. She tried contacting her mother and the other Olympians, but there was no use. Communications seemed to be down because the only response she get for using Iris Messaging was static.

She even went through the lengths of consulting a Roman augur. After dozens of mutilated stuffed toys, there were no signs of Percy, Jason or even the gods. It's like Olympus was on full lockdown.

Annabeth had already lost Percy once to the alien named Hera. If she loses her again . . . she'd rather think on the positive side of things.

Piper tried to comfort her, but she wasn't doing much better herself. After all, Jason had also disappeared.

Camp rebuilding had gone to work. Annabeth tried her best to help in any way she could to distract herself from the grief of losing Percy, but it's doing little to help. She asked Nico if Percy had died.

"I can't tell." Nico said miserably.

"You mean, you won't tell me?" Annabeth asked.

"No, I literally mean that I can't tell. Percy's aura and Jason's aura . . . they've disappeared. It's almost like something plucked them out of the world." Nico said. Annabeth wanted to snap at Nico for not making any sense, but she saw that he was distraught as well.

And so, the months turned into years. Annabeth had started college in New Rome. She felt like she had moved on, but not really. She still misses Percy, but moping around won't bring him back. She decided to look forward and continue on living her life.

The gods are still silent after the war with Gaia and monster attacks have been increasing. It was hard to balance out her studies along with staying alive.

So now she was taking a break along with Reyna after a long fought battle against a horde of Laistrygonian giants.

"I'm starting this will never end." Reyna muttered.

"As long as Tartarus exists, it won't end." Annabeth sighed. They sat at a hill overlooking New Rome. Little Tiber glistened under the sun as it flowed down straight through camp.

"Can you believe it's been three years since that time?" Reyna asked.

"Yeah." Annabeth chuckled softly. "Time flows by fast when you're not paying attention."

Reyna nodded and sighed. "How's Piper?"

"She's doing okay. She's been helping Mellie a lot with her father's acting career."

"I see." Reyna said. "And you?"

That was a hard question. "I'm okay." She simply answered, which wasn't a complete lie.

"You still miss him?" Reyna asked.

For the first year, Annabeth found it difficult to talk about Percy to anyone. Now, she just finds it sad. "Yeah. It's just that, he's gone so suddenly. I don't know where he is, what he's doing, if he's safe. I don't even know if he's alive."

"It's Percy we're talking about, Annabeth." Reyna assured her. "Of course he's alive."

"I hope so." Annabeth sighed. Then, at the corner of her eye, she spotted something white. She turned around to see a blur of white going into the trees. "Did you see that?"

"See what?" Reyna asked.

Annabeth stood up and went into the forest followed by Reyna. As she went through the trees, the blur of white kept speeding farther and farther.

"It's getting away." Annabeth mentioned.

"What's getting away?" Reyna asked. "And can you slow down?"

They chased the thing for a few minutes before it decided to stop near a river. It was a white fox, which wasn't really something that you'd see around this area. Especially considering it had two fluffy tails.

"Look," Annabeth pointed at the fox.

"It looks beautiful." Reyna pointed out. "Is it a monster?"

Annabeth and Reyna exchanged looks before drawing their weapons. They approached the fox slowly as the fox just looks at Annabeth and Reyna. Its tail was wiggling excitedly and its tongue was sticking out, as if it wants to play.

The white fur makes it look so majestic. The fox barked happily as it waited for the two girls to get closer.

"I don't think it's harmful." Annabeth said. She put her sword away and inched closer towards the fox.

"Are you sure about this?" Reyna asked.

Annabeth continued to move closer towards the fox. It's still wiggling its two tails and sticking its tongue out.

"That's it," Annabeth muttered softly. "C'mere boy. Or girl."

The fox stayed still, waiting for Annabeth to get close. Annabeth stretched her hand out as the fox was inches away from her fingers.

Then, she heard someone shouted. "Look out!"

An arrow flew out of nowhere and landed straight at the head of the fox. The fox yelped in pain and dropped dead on the spot while Annabeth and Reyna screamed in surprise.

Out of nowhere, a boy walked towards them and studied both of the girls. "Are you okay?" He asked.

He wore camouflage pants and combat boots. His black shirt was worn underneath a maroon vest. On his face, he wore what looked like a black bandanna wrapped around his mouth and nose, making only the eyes visible. In his hand was a bow that looked much more thicker and bigger than the ones that Annabeth were used to seeing.

"Are we okay?" Annabeth asked incredulously. "You just killed a harmless creature!"

The mystery man laughed. "Lady, I just saved your life. You should be thankful."

Reyna gripped her spear. "What do you mean, saved our lives? It was just a fox."

"I thought you Greeks and Romans were supposed to recognize monsters on sight." The man sighed as he ruffled his brown hair.

"That . . . was a monster?" Annabeth asked. The man gestured at the dead fox which had disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

"I thought the two tails was a dead giveaway. I guess I was wrong." The man said. "That was a Kitsune. A fox spirit."

"A Kitsune?" Reyna asked. "I haven't heard of them."

"Of course you haven't." The man explained. "Entrances to the Yomi are spreading everywhere and they've been letting out all bunch of nasties all over the world. They seem to like your area more than the rest."

"Hold on." Annabeth made a 'time-out' gesture. "What are you talking about? Kitsune? Yomi?"

"I guess I should explain." The man said. He placed a hand on his heart and bowed. "My name is Asanagi Kamamura and I am, as what you call it here, a demigod."

Annabeth had spent most of her time learning how to read body languages and to her, Asanagi didn't mean any harm to them. "I'm Annabeth." She said, extending her hand. Asanagi shook it gently. "And this is Reyna."

Reyna extended her hand. "Praetor of the Roman Legion." Reyna added. Asanagi nodded and shook her hand as well.

"Well, now that we know each other's names, is there any place we can talk safely and not in danger of Yokai attacks?" Asanagi asked.

Reyna and Annabeth exchanged looks. They had a mental conversation with one another in which they come to a mutual agreement.

"There's a Roman camp nearby." Reyna said. "We can talk safely there. But I must warn you. If you do anything that threatens the safety of my camp, I will personally-"

Asanagi held his right hand up. "I understand. I wouldn't risk losing a cooperation between us because frankly speaking, we're going to need each other if we're going to survive."

"Survive what?" Annabeth asked.

"The invasion of the dead."

**Line Break**

Annabeth, along with praetors Frank and Reyna and centurion Hazel met at the Roman Praetors' office. The place was just as grand as Annabeth remembered the first time she entered here.

Frank and Reyna took both seats for praetors while Asanagi sat in front of them across the table. Hazel and Annabeth sat next to each other with the guest chair next to the table.

"So," Frank started. "I've been informed that you're a demigod?"

Asanagi see-sawed his hand. "More or less. I guess you can call me that."

"First things first," Reyna said. "Take off the mask."

"Not sure that's a good idea." Asanagi winced.

"Why is that?" Annabeth asked. "You said we could trust you, right?"

"Yeah, but . . . It won't be a pleasant experience for any of us." Asanagi said. "Just trust me on this."

Annabeth studied Asanagi carefully. His brown eyes looked like muddy rivers. It's unclear what he's actually thinking.

"Fine." Reyna said reluctnatly. "Who's your parent?"

"Ah, the thing is, my parents are mortals." Asanagi explained as he leaned forward. "My ancestor is the Kami."

"Kami?" Frank asked.

"Um, I guess you can call them gods. Kami are gods from where I come from." Asanagi said.

"So the Kitsune you mentioned . . ."

"They're from my pantheon as well." Asanagi nodded. "They come from Yomi, which is our version of the Underworld. Well, some of them do. Some of them are friendly spirits that manifests through the power of good will."

Annabeth feels like she's taking a foreign exam. "Okay, what pantheon are you from?"

"Shinto." Asanagi said. "The Japanese pantheon."

"Japan has a pantheon?" Hazel whispered to Annabeth.

At this point, she was more confused than amazed. If Egyptians and Norse can have their own pantheons, why not Japanese? "I guess?" Annabeth replied.

"How do we know that you're not lying?" Reyna asked as she kept her steely gaze upon Asanagi.

Asanagi sighed as he reached for something in his pocket. Reyna's hand immediately went to her weapon and Frank's hand reached for his bow. "Relax, I just want to show you something."

"What is it?" Reyna asked cautiously.

He took out a small, thin red book and placed it on the table. "Here you go."

"What's this?" Frank asked.

"It's my passport." Asanagi said. "It's proof that I'm actually from Japan."

Everyone sighed. "It's not about whether you're from Japan or not. I'm asking how do we know if you're not lying about this whole Japanese pantheon thing." Reyna said.

"Ah," Asanagi laughed. "That makes much more sense. Well, I guess there's one way to prove it."

"How?" Annabeth asked.

Asanagi stood up and stretched. "This won't harm any of you, but I sincerely hope this room is fire proof."

"Wait, what?" Reyna asked but Asanagi had already started.

He muttered something in Japanese that Annabeth didn't understand. He muttered it like an incantation as he stood in a pose with his left hand close to his chest and mimicking the shape of a finger gun pointing straight at his head. The right hand was held in front of him with the palm facing forward.

As he continues his incantation, the palm of his right hand starts to burn with a _kanji _symbol wreathed in flames.

Then he finished his incantation and smacked his palm onto the floor. A wave of flames spread from his palm all over the room, up to the ceiling before disappearing.

Luckily, nothing burned and caught alight. But Frank didn't look too good. Annabeth didn't realize she'd been holding her breath until she exhaled. The flames had engulfed her entirely, but she wasn't harmed.

"That was . . . fascinating." Hazel gulped.

If Annabeth had to guess, she figured Asanagi was smiling underneath the mask. "Fire is my main element. I am a descendant of Kagatsuchi, the Kami of Fire." Asanagi explained.

"Yeah." Frank said nervously. "Don't do that again when I'm around."

"Sorry if I surprised you, but you said you needed proof." Asanagi shrugged.

Annabeth believed him. The last time Annabeth had seen someone handle fire like that was Leo, and he's not here. "I trust you."

"Thank you." Asanagi said as he bowed slightly. "Now that we've gotten to know each other, let's get on to the main topic."

"You said the dead were going to invade the world of the living." Reyna remembered. "What did you mean by that?"

"I meant exactly what I said." Asanagi said in a serious tone. "The creatures of the Yomi are becoming restless and entrances have been popping up everywhere in the world. Of course, we can seal them, but we're currently short handed on staff and the monster attacks aren't helping."

"I have been noticing an increase in monster attacks lately." Hazel offered. "Does that have anything to do with what's happening in your pantheon?"

"Most likely." Asanagi confirmed. "In every pantheon, the realm of the dead connects in one way or another. With the entrances of Yomi appearing everywhere, it's possible that monsters from your Underworld are experiencing the same thing."

"So that's what you meant by cooperation." Annabeth summarized. "We help you seal the entrances and the monster attacks would decrease."

Asanagi nodded. "I really hope you would be able to extend your help to me. Japanese warriors from all over the world are trying as best as they could to seal up these entrances and my task is to focus here."

Frank and Reyna looked at each other and nodded. Frank stood up. "We don't really trust you yet, but I too want nothing but safety for my camp and fellow friends. If we can achieve that by cooperating, then I am willing to do so."

"I agree." Reyna said.

Asanagi bowed. "Thank you for your help."

Annabeth sighed in relief. Thankfully, there was no need for bloodbath. "Where do we start?"

"First off, I need to ask you something." Asanagi said. "Do you know about a boy named Jason Grace?"

**A/N: Thought I'd end it there. Let me know on your thoughts about this kind of story.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Need help. I need to stop updating this story so I can update the other stories. Halp.**

**Geoorby: Thanks for the read. And I'll update them soon.**

**Storimus: We'll see ;)**

**Surya25addanki: He is, don't worry.**

**HardlyDone: Good idea. I'll try it out.**

**PJandLGequalsLove: Wish granted my friend.**

**Chapter 2**

After the what seemed like the umpteenth ghost, Nico was starting to get tired of the undead.

As a child of Hades, he could see most ghosts and spirits. Most of them don't mean any harm and wander aimlessly in the mortal world. Those who do want to harm him wouldn't dare to, not if they want a one-way trip to the Fields of Punishment.

But these ghosts were different.

These ghosts, Yurei, as Nico had been told what their names were, were not from the Greek pantheon. All of them looked like the ghost girl from The Ring. Long black hair, white dress that was tattered and torn and outstretched hands and feet. Again, as a child of Hades, Nico had no problem sending them back to the land of the dead. But it seemed endless.

"Is there no end to them?" Nico asked as he stood back to back with his new friend, Ken Mataro.

Nico met Ken when he was wandering through the forests of Camp Half-Blood. Nico received news from Grover that the trees told him that an entrance leading to the Underworld had opened up and it's scaring away the animals.

Being the only one who can handle it, Nico agreed to help. And that's where he met Ken, who claims that he's an exorcist slash Japanese demigod. At first, Nico thought that he's a demigod with a Japanese background but it turns out, he's literally a demigod from the Japanese pantheon.

From what Ken has told Nico, the Yomi - their version of the Underworld - has entrances that's been appearing all over the world and he's on a mission to seal those entrances.

Nico figured that since Underworld in different pantheons are merely an imagination of the same thing, helping Ken would mean helping himself as well. So they decided to cooperate.

Their only problem is that they are completely overwhelmed.

"If we can seal the entrance," Ken said. "Then the Yurei would stop pouring in."

"Any idea where it is?" Nico asked as he slashed down a ghost and his blade absorbed its essence.

Ken was dressed in a white hooded garb and pants. He carried a wooden staff, the tip of which is rounded into a circle with rings being linked along it so it looked like a glorified toy for babies. Around his waist was an assortment of bags filled with different things like a bunch of paper talismans, a flask of holy water, something what looked like a CD player and a bunch of other stuff that Nico didn't recognize.

"It's somewhere around here." Ken said as he took out a paper talisman, muttered an incantation and threw it at one of the Yurei. The paper seemed to fly on its own and stick itself onto the Yurei's forehead before exploding on impact.

"That's not very helpful." Nico grumbled.

"So is talking during combat." Ken replied. "Keep an eye out for the entrance."

This was going to take a while.

**Line Break**

Annabeth could almost feel her heart stop when she heard Jason's name.

"Jason?" Frank asked. "Blonde hair, tall, blue eyes?"

Asanagi nodded. "Grace has told me that he came from a Roman Legion. I suspected that he was referring to this place."

"Where is he?" Reyna asked. It was evident from her expression that she wanted to see him.

Asanagi closed his eyes momentarily. "I do not know. We met in Yomi for a while and parted ways afterwards. It seems that he has the same goal as us, to stop the dead from invading the world of the living."

"So, he's alive." Frank collapsed onto his chair. "Son of a bitch is alive. And all these years . . ."

"Did he say where he was going?" Reyna asked.

Asanagi shook his head. "He mentioned that it would be better for us to part ways. He is very skilled in combat though and a very powerful demigod. But after our brief encounter in the Yomi, I have never seen him since."

Disappointment was evident on all of their faces, but not Annabeth. If Jason's disappearance was caused by this incident, then maybe Percy . . .

"Excuse me, Asanagi." Annabeth said. "Have you encountered anyone with the name of Percy?"

Asanagi shook his head. "I can't say that I have. I have met a lot of demigods and warriors in my travels, but I don't recall meeting anyone with that name."

"I see." Annabeth was supposed to be disappointed, but she wasn't. If Jason is alive, then so is Percy. The slightest chance of seeing Percy again excites her, no matter how small that chance may be. She'd trained herself to not be optimistic and always consider the worst case scenario in every situation to avoid getting her hopes up, but this was Percy they're talking about.

"Annabeth," Hazel muttered softly. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Annabeth took a deep breath. "I'm just anxious."

"Don't worry." Hazel patted her shoulder. "If Jason's out there, then Percy's out there as well."

Annabeth nodded slightly. "You're right." She turned towards Asanagi. "What do we do now?"

Asanagi cleared his throat. "We search for any entrances of the Yomi and we seal it."

"How do we know what an entrance to the Yomi looks like?" Reyna asked.

"Oh, trust me. You'll know it when you see it."

**Line Break**

Annabeth has had her fair share of Underworld experience. She'd been to the Greek Underworld and back on several occasions.

None of which could've prepared for her visit to the Yomi.

The entrance was a swirling purple portal that lead to what seemed like eternal darkness.

Annabeth, Frank and Asanagi stood in front of the entrance. She could feel her palms getting sweaty.

"Well, you're right." Frank gulped. "We do know it if we see it."

"Right." Annabeth said as she tried to compose herself. "How do we do this?"

"Before we go in, I'd like for you to get rid of anything that can produce light." Asanagi said.

There was a momentary pause as he lets that sentence float around a bit.

"Wait." Frank said. "What do you mean, 'go in'?"

Asanagi raised an eyebrow. "We're going into the Yomi, of course."

"I thought you said we were going to seal it, not trap us inside it." Frank said, clearly a bit nervous about the idea of going into the Land of the Dead.

"The only way to seal it is from the inside." Asanagi explained. "Don't worry, I can get us all out. I've got, as you would call it, a one-way ticket out of the Yomi."

Frank laughed nervously. "We're going to the Underworld and you're making jokes." Frank grumbled. "And why do we need to get rid of anything that can produce light?"

"The Yomi is a realm of eternal darkness." Asanagi said. "And it is better to keep it that way."

"There it is again. You keep adding details to this place right before we're about to go in." Frank grumbled. "Eternal darkness? Shouldn't we _bring _something that can produce light so that we can - I don't know - see?"

"The last time someone lit up a light in the Yomi, he brought up the Goddess of Death." Asanagi shrugged.

Frank gulped. "No lights. Got it."

"How do we see if we're in eternal darkness?" Annabeth asked as she put away her flashlight.

"You'll see once we step inside." Asanagi nodded in assurance. "It will take me a while to seal the entrance and I'm going to need you guys to watch my back as I do it. The incantation is going to take a while and it can't be interrupted."

"Seems pretty straightforward." Annabeth took a few deep breaths.

Asanagi nodded. He then handed each Frank and Annabeth a green paper charm. It was the size of a postage stamp and had small red ribbon tied to one end of it. "This will protect you from the pollution of the Yomi."

Frank smelled the charm and recoiled. "Smells like rotten fish."

"At least it's better from the rotting scent of corpses." Asanagi said. "You guys ready?"

Annabeth stuffed the charm in her pocket and nodded. Asanagi then stepped into the portal, followed by Frank and Annabeth.

This is how Annabeth would best describe the Yomi.

The Greek Underworld was sad and depressing with a sprinkle of screams of torture, kind of like a Tim Burton movie.

The Yomi, however, was like a Stephen King book turned into a real life scenario. Darkness enveloped everything. Annabeth could barely see herself, much less what's in front of her. The winds whipped wildly around her with the sound of leaves and branches shaking by the wind.

While the Greek Underworld might've been scary, the Yomi was creepy and eerie. It was silent. Too silent for Annabeth's taste. Aside from the sound of trees and the wind, there was nothing else, which bothers her.

She'd feel a lot better if she could see around her. The silence was almost deafening, until Asanagi spoke up. "Give it time."

Annabeth blinked a few times and her vision sort of cleared up. It was still really dark, but Annabeth could almost see shapes in front of her. The sky was bloody red and it did little to light up anything for them to see. The more Annabeth blinked, the clearer she could "see".

"I wouldn't count this as 20/20 vision." Frank muttered. "But it'll do."

"Hush." Asanagi whispered. "Keep an eye out and keep your voices down. The Shikome have very excellent hearing and despite their looks, they're really fast."

"Shikome?" Annabeth whispered.

"I'll explain later. I will start the incantation." Asanagi whispered. "This will stir them up, but they probably won't attack."

"_Probably_?" Annabeth gripped her sword tighter.

"Stay alert." Asanagi said as he turned around and started to mutter an incantation that Annabeth could barely hear over the sound of the wind.

Annabeth and Frank just stood there and waited. Again, the silence was deafening. She couldn't even hear Asanagi's muttering now. Her heart was thumping against her chest. It's like waiting for a jumpscare that's never happening. She didn't know what to expect since she could barely see and she couldn't hear anything aside from the wind and trees.

"Frank?" Annabeth whispered.

No answer.

"Frank?" Annabeth whispered a little louder.

Again, no answer.

"Fra-"

"Shh." Frank said next to her. "Quiet."

"Where were you?" Annabeth snapped.

"Where were _you_?" Frank asked back. "I turned around and you were gone."

Annabeth was taken aback by his response. Did she move? "What do you mean?"

"I was having a look at what Asanagi was doing and when I turned around, you were gone." Frank whispered. "Where are you going?"

"I-I . . ." Annabeth couldn't find an answer. This place was not giving her good vibes. "Let's go back to where Asanagi is."

"Yeah, about that . . ." Frank said.

Annabeth scanned her surroundings to see that Asanagi was nowhere to be seen.

Shit.

They were lost in the Yomi.

**Line Break**

Nico could handle creepy. Heck, he had been known to be creepy himself. Scary even.

But the atmosphere of the Yomi unnerved him.

He could sense the thousands of ghosts and spirits all wailing and flying wildly around, creating heavy winds. That's the thing that unnerved him. He could only _sense _these spirits. Normally, he would be able to see them.

Given, the Yomi was pretty fucking dark. Nico thought about lighting up a torch, but Ken advised against it.

"Is this going to take a while?" Nico asked.

"About three to five minutes." Ken said. "Until then, I trust you have my back, yes?"

Nico nodded. He couldn't really "see" in the Yomi. It was more like he could sort of tell if something is there.

And there were a lot of things around them.

The silence of the Yomi bothered him. Although Nico didn't hear anything that sounded like danger, it made the situation far worse. If you could hear it, at least you know that something's there and you can be ready for an imminent attack.

If you can't hear it, it's like jumping off a building with your eyes close. You don't know when you're going to hit the ground. It just hits you suddenly then the next thing you know, you're dead.

Nico had probably only been standing there for a few seconds, but with the eerie silence it felt like hours.

On multiple occasions Nico felt something brushed against his cheek, like a cloth. But he ignored it.

Then, he spotted something at the distance. It was a ball of blue flames just floating around in empty space. It was like on of those will-o-wisps. It danced and floated in the distance, as if it was taunting Nico to come closer.

Nico knew better than to go to unknown territory. So he stood still and didn't move but he kept his sword ready at hand.

The wisp keeps dancing around, almost as if it was orbiting around something. Then the wisp starts to get closer.

Nico thought about calling Ken since he's the expert on the Yomi, but if he interrupts the sealing process now, it would be harder for them to seal the entrance.

The wisp starts to bounce closer and closer rhythmically, as if it's following the sound of footsteps.

Nico gripped his sword tighter. He'd never been scared of ghosts, but this was making him nervous.

The wisp bounced closer and closer, until it floated and flew straight at Nico at a rapid pace.

Something was definitely coming towards him now. Nico gritted his teeth and readied his sword. He could make up the outline of a person in the distance, running towards him with their sword on the ready.

The wisp was definitely circling that person as it twirled around them in excitement. From the wisp's light, Nico caught a glimpse of what seems to be Imperial Gold metal from their sword.

The person was getting closer. They raised their sword to strike and Nico raised his to block, but something grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back.

The light was almost blinding as he returned to the world of the living. Ken had dragged him out of the Yomi.

"That was close." Ken huffed. "You okay?"

Nico didn't realize he'd been sweating and panting heavily. "What the hell just happened?"

"It's your first time, so I'm not surprised." Ken said. He didn't look too good as well because he's also sweating profusely. "My first experience in the Yomi put me in a coma for two weeks. Since you're a child of Hades, I figured you could handle it."

"In the Yomi," Nico panted. "There was a person. He had like a blue wisp around him and he was running towards us."

"Blue wisp?" Ken asked tiredly. "That's an Onibi."

"Onibi?"

"It was probably a Shikigami summoned by someone."

"Shikigami?" Nico shook his head. "Dude, you gotta hit me up with some English terms because the only other language I know is Italian."

Ken laughed tiredly. "Well, I'll explain it over a bath. We gotta get rid of the Yomi pollution on our body."

"I thought the charm you gave me was supposed to prevent that?" Nico asked.

"It's supposed to prevent an immediate effect of being in the Yomi, which it does. Now we've got to wash it off before we get inflicted with death."

"Sounds fun." Nico said tiredly.

**A/N: Great to see you guys are enjoying it.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I just can't seem to stop.**

**PJandLGequalsLove: Gotta wait my friend.**

**Surya25addanki: Yeah, but new shit tends to creep people out.**

**Onwards!**

**Chapter 3**

Annabeth was holding Frank's hand tightly, just so they wouldn't get separated again. The Yomi was so dark and silent that she could hear her heartbeat slamming against her ribcage.

"Do you even know where you're going?" Frank whispered, which almost made Annabeth jump because of the unnerving silence.

"No." Annabeth admitted. "But it's not really a good idea to stay in one place, is it?"

"What if Asanagi is searching for us?" Frank added. "We should stick around so that it'd be easier for him to find us."

While Frank did have a good point, it wasn't enough to convince Annabeth otherwise. Besides, she couldn't shake up this bad feeling in her stomach.

The more Annabeth walked, the more she felt like the atmosphere was getting heavier. It's like the air around them was getting thicker with . . . something.

"Do you feel that?" Frank asked.

Annabeth nodded, although he probably didn't see her. "The air is getting heavier."

"It's like we're in an underground wine cellar." Frank muttered. "I don't like this."

"Me neither." Annabeth said. "Let's try and find a way out of -"

That's when the situation got from bad to worse.

Annabeth, being the idiot she was, forgot to leave her phone behind. And her phone lets out a blinding flash of light whenever it gets a text message or a call. Annabeth had never bothered to turn it off or change it because it wasn't bothering anyone. After this, Annabeth swore to turn of the flashlight on her phone.

The flash of light from her phone momentarily illuminated their surroundings and Annabeth had finally known why you shouldn't bring a light to Yomi.

The decaying and maggot ridden bodies lying around wasn't the things that made Annabeth scared for her life. It was the dozens of demons, monsters and ghosts that had been surrounding them this entire time. All around them were just packed with monsters, including above them. There were these creatures that looked like a Ninja Turtle reject, ghouls with horrible masks, ghosts that looked like they came from a Japanese horror movie (which is probably the other way around), and so many more creatures that if Annabeth had seen for a second longer, her mind would've actually exploded out of terror.

That explains why the air got heavier. They were surrounded and were completely outnumbered.

"D-D-Did you see that?" Frank whispered so softly. Even after seeing all that, it was still deathly silent.

Annabeth gripped Frank's hand tighter. They can't fight their way out of this. They certainly can't talk out of it.

"Stay calm," Annabeth muttered but it was more like to herself rather than to Frank.

It was then that something broke the unsettling silence. A low distinctive growl that sounded awfully close to Annabeth's face.

With fear crawling up to her chest, she raised her sword and struck in front of her, but a hand stopped her swing.

"Don't." A voice whispered. It wasn't Frank's and it wasn't Asanagi's either. "You kill one and they will all go wild."

"Asanagi?" Frank called out, but the guy didn't answer.

"You don't belong here." The voice said. He then handed Annabeth something that felt like a prayer bead. The leather rope was woven into a series of spherical beads, about five of them to be exact. "This will help you go back."

"Who are you?" Annabeth asked.

Again, the guy didn't answer their question. "You must hurry. They are agitated. Your light has drawn their attention."

Annabeth wanted to argue, but she knew that he was right. It felt like dozens of eyes were now upon them, like vultures gazing at a carcass.

"Frank, hold on to me." Annabeth said. Frank held Annabeth's hand as Annabeth gripped the prayer bead in her other hand. She didn't know how she was supposed to use this, but she just gave it a shot.

She wished to go home and get out of this hellhole. She wished so that she'd be in the comfort of her bunk bed. She wished for the warm sunlight to wash over her skin like a skincare commercial.

When she opened her eyes, she was in the middle of the Field of Mars. Luckily, the place was empty today.

After being in the darkness of the Yomi, the night time seemed bright. Annabeth didn't realize how bad she was trembling until she collapsed on her butt.

Frank, who was standing next to her, was sweating and his skin was pale, as if he'd just seen a ghost. Given where they've been, he probably did see a ghost. He too collapsed on his back.

"That was . . . an unusual experience." Frank muttered. "Not sure about doing it again though."

"Same here." Annabeth said. Annabeth had been through Tartarus. She'd already seen the worst that the Greek world could provide. And yet, the Yomi unsettled her. Annabeth didn't know what it was about the place, but it frightened her.

"Figured you'd pop out here." A voice said behind them. Annabeth turned around to see Asanagi standing there with his arms crossed. He was now wearing a hooded black jacket and blue jeans. Again, Annabeth can't see his face. "You had me worried."

"How did you find us?" Frank asked.

"The Yomi and the world of the living are like mirrors of each other. To an extent, the Yomi is just like our world, except it's only for dead people. I can see your aura walking through the Yomi from this side, so I just followed you." Asanagi explained.

"What happened?" Annabeth asked.

"I believe I'm the one who's supposed to ask you that." Asanagi said. "When I looked for you two, you disappeared."

Annabeth sighed. She started to explain herself, but Asanagi stopped her. "Before you tell your story, I suggest you take a bath at the river."

"You mean the Little Tiber?" Frank asked. "Why?"

"You've been in the Yomi for too long." Asanagi said. "Your clothes and body are polluted by the Yomi. I suggest you burn your clothes before it turns into a Yokai."

"What's a Yokai?"

"You would call them monsters." Asanagi said. "Which is basically true. Yokai are spirits, demons, ghosts, animal-like creatures, basically anything that's not human."

"So you're saying our clothes will turn into monsters." Frank said simply.

"If you don't burn them, then yes." Asanagi said.

"This was my favourite shirt as well." Frank grumbled. "And why do we need to bathe in Little Tiber?"

"To cleanse and purify your body." Asanagi said. "Unlike normal baths with soap and shampoo, the river has power. It will be sufficient to remove the Yomi pollution from your body."

"Why can't we dip in the river along with the clothes?" Frank asked. "Don't they get cleansed as well?"

Asanagi shrugged. "You can try, but there's no guarantee it will work. Inanimate objects require rituals to cleanse, unlike humans."

"Fair enough." Frank said. He turned towards Annabeth. "Can you help me?"

"With what?" Annabeth asked.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I don't plan on skinny dipping in Little Tiber right now." Frank said. "There're buckets we can use to carry some of the water back to the bathhouse." He turned towards Asanagi. "That counts, right?"

"As long as it's water from the river." Asanagi nodded.

"Sure." Annabeth said. Although she seemed okay, her mind was distracted by the incident in the Yomi.

Who was that man?

And why did he sound like Percy?

**Line Break**

After washing herself with water from Little Tiber, Annabeth felt surprisingly better. She didn't realize how heavy her body had been until the Tiber washed it away. After she made sure of it, she dipped herself into the bath.

There were two building for the baths, one for male and the other for female. Annabeth hadn't seen what the male bathhouse looked like, but she was sure it's basically the same.

The bath itself was really just a big and really glorified jacuzzi. The water was glittering emerald green and was really warm. Annabeth figured if the bath was deeper, they could have practiced swimming here.

Alongside the bath were marble black pillars with lounge chairs placed next to them. Due to the steam of the bathhouse, it can also be sort of used as a "sauna". But that's only if you set the water the boiling temperatures, which Annabeth wasn't keen on after what just happened.

She felt the warmth engulfing her body as she relaxed herself. The water wasn't really deep. If Annabeth stood up, it would barely reach her knees. So she sat down so that almost all of her body was submerged.

Although her body felt heavenly good, the same couldn't be said about her thoughts. Her experience in the Yomi was overwhelming, but what caught her attention the most was the man that saved them from the Yomi.

It was dark so for all Annabeth knew, it could've been just another demon. But that voice . . . No matter how she replayed it in her head, it really sounded like Percy's voice.

Annabeth sighed as she gently washed her face so that her thoughts would clear. Then, she was greeted with a voice. "You look like you have a lot on your mind."

Annabeth yelped in surprise. She thought she was alone. She was _sure _she was alone. It's about dinner time and everyone should be at the dining hall. And yet, someone was here with her.

The woman sat across the bath from Annabeth. She looked older than her, probably in her late twenties. Her hair was lusciously black and was so long that it reached the water when she's sitting down. Her skin was fair and yet pale.

Annabeth noticed something on top of her head. She thought it was some sort of towel at first, but as the woman gets closer she notices that it was a headdress. It was shaped like one of those handheld folding fans that Asian woman likes to bring along. So it looked like there was a peacock feather fan on her head.

The woman moved closer towards Annabeth and sat next to her. Annabeth normally wouldn't have minded and would be glad since she had someone to talk to, but given that she'd never seen this woman before made her nervous.

"Sorry." Annabeth started. "I thought there was no one here."

"It's fine. It is a bathhouse after all." The woman smiled. Annabeth didn't want to sound racist, but she looked Asian.

"I don't think I've seen you before." Annabeth stated. "Are you new?"

The woman smiled sweetly and nodded. "I guess you can say that."

Annabeth smiled back. "I'm Annabeth."

"Izanami." The woman introduced herself. "Izanami Mikoto."

"I see." Annabeth nodded. So her hunch had been right, since that's a Japanese name if she's ever heard one. "Where are you from?"

"For a brief time, Japan." Izanami admitted. "And then, well, anywhere you can possibly imagine."

"You travel a lot?"

"You can say that." Izanami said as she brushed her hair with water. "What about you, Annabeth? You seem to have a lot on your mind."

Annabeth managed a small smile. "I guess I do."

"People say a good story can help clear your thoughts. Would you like to hear a story?" Izanami offered.

Annabeth studied her. She seemed friendly. She gives off a vibe of a caring mother. "Sure." Annabeth smiled.

"I know a very famous story from my hometown." Izanami said. "It's how the islands of Japan came to be."

Annabeth smiled as she waited for Izanami to continue. She always appreciates it when someone tells her about something that she didn't know. It's always good to learn something new.

"In Japan, gods are born in pairs. So naturally, they are basically brothers and sisters. One particular pair would bring to the existence of Japan itself." Izanami started. "The seventh generation of gods, Izanagi and his sister, were the ones responsible for that. From the bridge between the heavens and the Earth, they used the Ame-no-nuboko, the Heavenly Jeweled Spear."

Annabeth listened intently as she brushed her hair gently.

"The spear formed the very first island of Japan called Onogoro. Izanagi and his sister decided to make Onogoro their home. There, they fell in love with each other." Izanami explained. When she caught a glimpse of Annabeth's expression, she giggled. "I'm sorry. Did that detail disturb you?"

"Well, I come from a Greek family. Siblings get married all the time there. But still, eww." Annabeth muttered.

Izanami smiled as she continued her story. "Izanami and his new wife decided to mate. The first time they tried it, Izanagi's wife greeted him first, which was not the proper manners."

"Of course. Guys should start first, right?" Annabeth agreed. This might be a good story to tell other people one day.

Izanami nodded. "As a result of this, his wife gave birth to a baby that was badly deformed."

Annabeth figured that the Greeks had a similar story with Hephaestus. "Please don't tell me the baby got thrown off a tall mountain."

"Ah, the couple decided to send the baby into the sea on a boat. The baby will survive thought, but that's a different story."

Annabeth was somewhat relieved.

"Anyway, when they try for the second time, Izanagi was the one who greets his wife first. And as a result of their love, the islands of Japan were born along with a lot of new gods."

Annabeth had almost asked how come someone gave birth to an island, but she then remembered about how Athena was born and decided not to question it.

"It was going great until Izanagi's wife gave birth to a fire god named Kagutsuchi." Izanami said in a sad tone. "The process had killed her and in anger, Izanagi chopped off the head of his infant child."

"That's horrible." Annabeth said, but who was her to judge? The Greek gods have done their fair share of horrible things as well.

"I know, right?" Izanami said. "Izanagi was very distraught and dissatisfied with how his wife died. And so, he ventured into the Yomi, the Land of the Dead."

Annabeth shuddered a bit at the mention of the Yomi. That place creeps her out.

"Izanagi searched for his wife until she finally found her in a mansion. It was too dark for him to see, but he recognized his wife's voice anywhere." Izanami continued. "Izanagi begged and pleaded for his wife to come back, but she said that it was too late. She'd already eaten food from the Yomi, so she couldn't return to the world of the living."

Izanami turned towards Annabeth. "I believe the Greeks have a similar story to this."

"Yeah, the Goddess Persephone." Annabeth confirmed. "Similar thing. She ate the pomegranate and couldn't leave the Underworld."

"Ah, but this is different." Izanami said. "After lots of pleading, his wife decided that he would return to the world with Izanagi but demanded time to rest. She made Izanagi promise not to walk into her bedroom as she rested, and Izanagi did."

Annabeth wanted to ask who in their right mind would rest in the Land of the Dead, but considering his wife was already dead it would make sense.

"And so, Izanagi waited. He waited patiently for hours. Those hours turned into days. Finally, he couldn't wait any longer. Izanagi broke his promise and walked into her bedroom. He uses a comb to light up a fire so he could see. That's when he saw his wife's decomposing body, nothing more than a corpse-ridden maggot."

Annabeth felt like throwing up. Then, she remembered something. "A friend of mine told me that the last time someone lit up a light in the Yomi, he raised the Goddess of Death."

Izanami nodded. "We're getting there." She said. "Horrified by what he saw, Izanamgi ran from his wife. His wife, distraught with the thought of her husband leaving her, chased after Izanami. Their chase included all kinds of creature from the Yomi but eventually, Izanagi managed to exit the Yomi."

"He just left his wife?"

Izanami nodded. "It's a very sad tale. Izanagi closed the entrance to the Yomi with a boulder. His wife then promised that if he left her, she would destroy a thousand people's lives. Izanagi replied that he would give birth to a thousand five hundred lives." Izanami sighed. "And that's how the Goddess of Death, ruler of the Yomi, was born."

"Sheesh, that was harsh of him." Annabeth stated out.

"Ah well, it was understandable. Most people would do silly things over love. When they realize they're not cut out for it, most of them know that it was a bad decision." Izanami said. "Though the only thing that bothers me about it . . ."

"What is it?"

"Why would someone make a promise that they can't keep?" Izanami said. "I mean, I did tell him that I couldn't leave but he just wouldn't let it go."

"Boys can be-" Then, Annabeth noticed. "Wait, you told him?"

"Ah, I haven't mentioned the name of Izanagi's wife, haven't I?" Izanami stifled a small laugh. Annabeth felt like kicking herself.

If gods were born as pairs, it would make sense if they have similar names. Why didn't she realize it before?

"You're his wife." Annabeth muttered.

Izanami smiled. "Goddess of Death. Pleasure to meet you, Annabeth Chase."

**A/N: Ah, that felt good.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Honestly, I can't stop. Help. On the bright side, the holidays are coming up so, yayy more updates.**

**PJandLGequalsLove: Got your wish my friend.**

**Geoorby: Those were my intentions.**

**Surya25addanki: Maybe he will, maybe he won't. Who knows?**

**Guest: I've looked up the definition of smut and I'd rather skrr away from it. I've written some lemons in my previous fanfics and I don't really intend to write any more than that.**

**Now, onwards.**

**Chapter 4**

For what it's worth, Annabeth thought she'd lived a good life. She'd been the textbook definition of an Athenian child, she got good grades at her studies, granted her relationship with her family hit a nasty bump early on but it has gotten better, she'd met the love of her life, she'd beaten the King of Titans, she'd ventured through Tartarus and back and had took part in whooping Gaia's butt.

So if she was going to go down today in a Roman bathhouse, she would have no regrets.

"Oh, you can relax, my dear." Izanami said sweetly. Despite being the Goddess of Death, she made Annabeth feel warm and fuzzy. Maybe it's just the bath that was affecting her mind. "I have no intention of hurting you . . . yet."

Annabeth swallowed the lump in her throat. "I'm guessing you're her for far more than just a story." Annabeth said. "What do you want?"

Izanami giggled. She cupped water from the bath and poured it over her body. For someone who was supposedly a corpse, she looked beautiful. "I want nothing, Annabeth dear. I just want to see the person who . . . ah, a certain someone won't stop talking about."

"What do you mean?" Annabeth asked.

"Let's just say that you're a very important person for someone in the Yomi." Izanami smiled. "You will know in time. For now, I will take my leave."

"Wait!" Annabeth said as Izanami stood up. "Who are you talking about?"

Izanami looked over her shoulder at Annabeth, gave her a wink and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Annabeth felt like the world had collapsed on her. She'd been through so much in one day up to the point that if there are anymore surprises, she's going to hit someone.

After the bath, she got dressed and headed out. Asanagi was waiting for her outside of the bathhouse.

"Are you okay, Annabeth?" Asanagi asked.

Annabeth nodded slightly. "I'm okay. There's just a lot in my head right now."

"Frank was worried." Asanagi said. "You were in there for quite some time. I told him to go on ahead."

"You waited for me?" Annabeth asked. Asanagi nodded. "Thanks. I'm sorry for taking so long."

"No worries." Asanagi said. If Annabeth had to guess, he was smiling underneath that mask.

As they arrived at the dining hall, it was mostly empty already except for one table where Frank was sitting along with Reyna and Hazel.

"Hey," Reyna smiled at her. "You okay?"

Why does everyone keep asking if she's okay? "I'm fine, Reyna." Annabeth smiled.

"You sure?" Hazel asked. "You don't look like it."

"I just have some stuff in my mind." Annabeth said as she sent a clear mental message. _Don't press any further_. Her friends know not to pressure Annabeth or she'll get upset.

"So," Reyna said, eager to change the topic. "How was it? The trip to the Japanese version of the Underworld?"

"It was . . . how do I put this delicately?" Frank asked himself as he took a bite off his brownie. "Fucking scary."

"No objections here." Annabeth said as she took a sip of her hot chocolate.

"You ventured through Tartarus. There's no way the Yomi could be scarier." Reyna said.

"It's a different kind of scary." Annabeth explained. "When I was in Tartarus, it was more like '_oh-gods-I-think-we're-about-to-die' _kind of scary. In the Yomi, it was more like, _'I'm-not-going-there-because-I-don't-know-what's-in-there' _kind of scary."

"That's exactly it." Frank agreed.

Hazel and Reyna looked at them like they were speaking a different language.

"The Yomi is different." Asanagi said. "It messes with your head and emotions. Imagine, your five senses are dulled. Because of its darkness and pollution, you are not able to see, hear, feel and smell anything in the Yomi, but you know that something is there, watching your every step."

Annabeth nodded. "When I was in the Pit, at least I could _see _what I was walking into. I'd take on an army of monsters any day over the darkness of the Yomi."

"I second that decision." Frank added.

Asanagi then leaned forward on the table. "Tell me what happened back there, Annabeth, Frank." He asked.

Annabeth took a deep breath. "Well, after you start to seal the entrance, I was standing guard with Frank. Now as far as I recall, I didn't move an inch. I was too scared to move. I turned around, Frank was gone."

"I was standing next to Asanagi at the time," Frank continued. "And when I called, Annabeth was gone. So I went to look for her and eventually I found her. But because of that, we got lost in the Yomi."

"How did you guys get back?" Reyna asked.

Frank and Annabeth exchanged looks. "Well, someone rescued us." Annabeth said.

"At first we thought it was Asanagi." Frank supplied. "But he sounded different. He sounded like . . ." Frank's eyes moved over towards Annabeth, sending her telepathic question.

"He sounded like Percy." Annabeth finished.

"Annabeth . . ." Reyna tried to comfort her, but Annabeth shook her head.

"I know you might think I'm being delusional and crazy, but I'm positive. That voice was Percy's." Annabeth insisted.

There was a momentary silence around them before Asanagi spoke up. "It is not unusual to encounter another living human in the Yomi." Asanagi said. "Entrances are appearing everywhere. It's possibly that this Percy guy has found one." Asanagi then raised an eyebrow. "Who is Percy anyway?"

"He's a friend of ours." Hazel explained. "You know that demigod you met, Jason Grace?" Asanagi nodded. "Both of them were our friends. After the war with the Greek Earth goddess three years ago, they disappeared and we haven't seen them since. Your news about Jason is the first we've heard from him."

"I see." Asanagi said. He bowed his head slightly. "I'm sorry for bringing such a sad topic into discussion."

"No, it's okay." Annabeth smiled. "At least we know they're both okay. After three years of silence about them, I'm glad to know that they're still alive."

Asanagi nodded politely. "If that is all, then I shall take my leave."

"You can sleep here," Frank offered. "There are some vacancies in the barracks."

Again, Asanagi bowed. "I thank you for your offer, but I must refuse. I have to go back to my group and report about my findings."

That caught Reyna's attention a bit. "You won't try to ambush us in the middle of the night now, won't you?"

Again, if Annabeth had to guess, Asanagi was smiling under his mask. "I understand your concern. I give you my word that I mean you guys no harm. I am looking for a cooperation between us in order to seal the Yomi for good."

Reyna studied him carefully. Aurum and Argentum stayed silent behind her. She then sighed and gave a small smile. "I trust you, Asanagi. Since the creatures of the Yomi are threatening us as well, I see this as a win-win situation for both of us."

Asanagi nodded as he shook hands with both of the Roman praetors. "Thank you, praetors. I am sure our paths will cross again." He then shook hands with Hazel and lastly with Annabeth. "I'm sure your friends are okay, Annabeth. If I do find out anything about them I will let you know."

That statement alone made Annabeth's shoulders feel a million times lighter. "Thanks, Asanagi. Be safe out there."

Asanagi nodded before he disappeared in a blink of an eye. "You know, I thought only ninjas in cartoon do that." Frank said.

**Line Break**

Over the past few months, weird monsters have been appearing everywhere. Monsters that Thalia had never seen before. Some looked like ghosts, some looked like animals that have unique distinctive features and some just looked outright freaky.

The Hunt has been working overtime. With Lady Artemis out of the picture, they have to work harder without the help of their goddess.

Thalia was tired mentally and physically. It felt like she hadn't had a good rest in a long time. Her sisters weren't doing too good as well. She'd lost a few of them because of the barrage of monster attacks, to which she blamed herself for not being able to protect them.

That night, they were in deep shit.

The Hunters were in a circle, covering every area and watching for any monster that dared to lunge at them. They were being attacked by monsters, but something felt off. It felt more like a three-sided battle rather than a battle between the Hunters and monsters.

It felt like the monsters were fighting among themselves. Thalia would catch glimpses of hellhounds, white wolves, turtle like creatures, and Cyclopes just whacking at each other.

Thalia didn't care. She killed anything that wasn't a friendly.

They were almost out of arrows, which was bad. Usually, the quivers would just refill themselves every time they were out of combat but ever since Artemis was gone, that powers seemed to be switched off. Now, they were very low on ammo.

"Anyone got any arrows left?" Thalia asked.

"Mine's almost empty!" A Hunter yelled.

"Mine too!" Another one yelled.

"Here!" One of them shouted as she tossed her quiver full of arrows to Thalia. "My last quiver!"

"Thanks!" Thali said as she went to work. She fired arrow after arrow, disintegrating monsters left and right. It seemed like everything was going well, until a scream pierced the night.

Thalia looked behind her to see that a hellhound had snuck up through their shadows and attacked one of her sisters from behind. Thalia gritted her teeth as she took out her hunting knives and ran towards the hellhound. Thalia sliced at its neck before burying the knives deep in its head, disintegrating it.

She saw that the Hunter that had been attacked was badly wounded. "Medic!" Thalia screamed. "It's going to be okay," She said.

As she said that, another scream filled the air. Thalia looked around to see a giant spider-like creature barreling towards them. The arrows seemed to bounced off of its skin, so Thalia decided to zap it with a lightning bolt.

The spider turned into burnt flesh before disintegrating into black smoke.

Thalia collapsed to one knee. That lightning bolt had almost drained all of her energy and she wasn't sure she had the power to summon even more.

They were getting overrun. Monsters were coming from all sides. Unless a miracle happens, Lady Artemis won't have a Hunt to return to.

Luckily, something did happen.

A massive lightning bolt hit a few meters ahead of Thalia, disintegrating some of the monsters. At first, Thalia thought it was Zeus because the only two people alive that can summon lightning bolts were herself and her brother Jason and Jason couldn't summon a lightning bolt that powerful.

As the smoke cleared, Thalia could see that where the lightning bolt had struck was a person. The person had wore what appeared to be a black oversized shirt with baggy black pants.

Upon closer inspection, Thalia noticed that his outfit resembled something of a traditional samurai garb. Two swords were tied around his waist. When Thalia saw his face, Thalia's heart almost dropped.

"J-Jason?" Thalia stammered.

Jason gave her sister a smile before turning serious. Under his breath, he muttered an incantation. "Kami of Thunder, give me strength. Yakusa-no-ikazuchi-no-kami, Raijin!"

What happened next was beyond Thalia's wildest imaginations.

Lightning struck all around them, disintegrating monsters everywhere. It was fascinating and horrifying to watch at the same time. It's like watching a light show but with monsters disintegrating everywhere.

Just like that, there were no more monsters.

Jason buckled and collapsed to his knees as he groaned in pain. "Tend to the wounded." Thalia ordered her Hunters before rushing towards Jason. "Jason, hey. You okay?"

"Yeah, maybe, sort of." He muttered. When he looked at Thalia in the eyes, he gave a lopsided grin. "Hey sis."

Thalia hugged her brother tightly. "I never thought I'd see you again." Thalia sobbed. "I thought you were dead. We all thought you were dead."

"Sorry Thalia." Jason said. "I didn't mean to make you worry."

"Well you're gonna have to make up for it." Thalia said with a smile as she wiped her tears off. "You're gonna stay for dinner."

**Line Break**

Over the past few months, Thalia had never looked forward to dinner because she was too tired from battling monsters and leading the Hunt in Artemis's place. Now, she was more than excited since her brother was here.

Thalia made sure that she and Jason ate a few feet away from the Hunters because of the whole hate male thing.

"You look good, Jason." Thalia said.

"And you've looked better." Jason replied.

Thalia managed a tired chuckle. "Yeah, I get that. Ever since the gods stayed silent for the past three years, we barely had any divine help. The Delphic Oracle was silent and any contact with the gods is nonexistent. I'm left to take care of the Hunt and monsters have been increasing these past few months."

"Sorry you have to go through all that." Jason muttered.

"Yeah. Me too." Thalia said sadly. "Anyway, tell me your story."

"Well, where should I start?"

"How about three years ago?" Thalia said. "When you and Percy went missing."

At the mention of Percy's name, Thalia sensed a slight tension in the air. It's like this was a sensitive topic for Jason but it disappeared instantly.

"Well, three years ago I got swallowed into the Yomi." Jason said.

"Yomi?" Thalia asked as she took a bite of her apple.

Jason nodded. "You know how in different parts of the world exists different beliefs and mythologies, right? Like Romans and Greeks?"

Thalia nodded and gestured for him to continue.

"Yomi is the Japanese version of the Underworld." Jason said.

"Ah, I see. So the Japanese mythologies are real?"

Jason nodded. "So I got dragged into the Yomi and I was stuck there for a year with no way out."

Thalia gasped. "You were stuck in the Underworld for a _year?"_

Jason looked at the fire they made sadly. "I wish it was the Underworld. The Yomi . . . it's different. You can't see or hear anything. There was no light. It was truly an eternal darkness. Imagine wandering in that for a year."

Thalia was crying at the thought of her brother going through that. Suddenly, the difficult things she endured in the world of the living doesn't seem that bad compared to Jason's experience.

"After a year, an entrance opened up." Jason started again. "I walked through it and exited in Kyoto, Japan. That's where I met the twins, Raijin and Fujin."

"Who are they?" Thalia asked.

"They're called Kami, which basically means god. Raijin is the God of Thunder and Lightning and Fujin is the God of Wind." Jason said. "They're not really twins since Fujin is so much more older than Raijin, but they act like they are. The two of them took me in and took care of me."

"But why didn't you come back?" Thalia asked. "Why didn't you contact us?"

"I tried." Jason said miserably. "Something was keeping me back. All the calls and emails I sent to anyone I know didn't reach them. Everytime I tried to catch a flight back to the US, the flight would always be canceled. I tried Iris Messaging but all I got was static. I even tried to rent a boat and sail across the ocean from Japan to the mainland, but the waves keep washing me back ashore. Something was very determined to keep me there."

"Then how did you get back here?"

"The Yomi." Jason said. "I figured since I ended up in Japan through the Yomi in the first place, then I could go back through the Yomi as well. Turns out, I was right."

"Well, at least you're back." Thalia said with relief. "Any word on Percy?"

Again, at the mention of Percy, the air got heavier with ozone. Jason's faced morphed into anger.

"Jason? Are you okay?" Thalia asked.

Jason then calmed down. He took a few deep breaths. "Sorry," Jason said. "Over the last three years, Percy and I didn't see eye to eye on . . . certain things. The last time we met was a year ago where we both tried to kill each other."

"What? I thought Percy was your friend."

"He is." Jason admitted. "It's just something that we disagree with each other."

**Line Break**

"How was your visit?" The man asks as Izanami returned to her throne.

"It was delightful." Izanami smiled as she sat on her throne. "She's very much like what you've told me."

"She's a very important person in my life." The man said. "I assume you would keep your promise?"

Izanami laughed. "I never go back on my word, my dear." Izanami said. "She will be spared from my plans. Now, time for you to do your job, Greek."

"As you wish." The man said before disappearing through an entrance to the living world.

Izanami laughed. "Who knew that the son of Hermes would become _my _servant?" Izanami said. "Perseus Jackson. I will claim your soul!" Izanami shouted to herself as she laughed maniacally in the deepest part of the Yomi.

**A/N: Ta-da!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Because of the positive reception, I say keep going.**

**Timbo8: It's kinda obvious, isn't it?**

**Yyyy: *imitates explosion. And thanks! I don't plan on stopping.**

**PJandLGequalsLove: Gotta wait for the next chapters.**

**And now, onwards!**

**Chapter 5**

Annabeth was in the middle of her class in the college of New Rome when the emergency bell rang all across Camp Jupiter. She was about to hand in her eight hundred word essay on you can efficiently kill a hellhound when the bell rang.

Under camp rules, if the bell rings that means every available Roman soldier that's fit for battle is required to take arms and defend camp. Annabeth wasn't really a Roman soldier, but she was ready to bash some monster heads since they interrupted her time of studying.

Annabeth grabbed her sword and ran as fast as she could towards the Field of Mars, where everything is in chaos as everyone was trying to do preparations.

"Annabeth!" Reyna called. Annabeth spotted her on her pegasus, Guido. She was dressed in full battle regalia along with a purple cloak. On one hand was her sword and on the other was the legion standard, a golden eagle on a stick.

"How large are the enemy forces?" Annabeth asked.

Reyna looked grim. "More than we can handle." She admitted. "It's unlike anything I've ever seen. It's almost like someone orchestrated this attack."

Either that or it's a coincidence and Annabeth knew there are no such thing as a coincidence. "Ready the legion. I'll meet you up front.

Reyna nodded as she reared her pegasus. "Romans! To me!" She shouted. The Romans cheered in unison as they marched towards the battlefield.

Annabeth took out a notepad and wrote a message to Thalia and Piper for their help. Since Iris Messaging and cellphones have been rendered near useless as a way of communication, Annabeth found a slower but more reliable way of communication.

"Send these to my friends, please." Annabeth said to the wind. She felt a slight breeze before letting the notes go, carried by the wind spirits. One went one way and one went the other. She just hopes her message reach their destination in time. Wind spirits can travel very fast, but it would still take time for them to arrive.

Annabeth ran towards where the Roman Legion were preparing.

When Annabeth saw the army, she felt her heart drop.

The army was huge and as Reyna said, more than they could handle. There were variations of monsters like cyclopes, hellhounds, dracaenaes, Earthborns and many more. Even if the Hunt and Camp Half-Blood came to help, Annabeth wasn't sure it's going to be enough.

Reyna was right. This didn't look like a random attack. Someone had orchestrated this attack.

Annabeth stood next to Reyna who looked nervous. "Hey," She greeted.

"I already called for backup." Annabeth said.

"How long do we need to hold out?"

Annabeth shrugged. "For a while."

"Oh great. I was expecting forever." Reyna muttered. "Archers!" The lines of archers behind them pulled their bowstring back in unison.

The monster army was starting to get close.

"Fire!" Reyna ordered. Volleys of arrows flew across the sky. It was fascinating to watch until they landed on their targets and disintegrated dozens of monsters. The monster army was now enraged as they roared and charged at them faster.

"Lock shields!" Reyna shouted. A row of infantrymen stepped in front of them with shields large enough to make for an adult sledding board. They locked shields with one another, forming a wall of metal in front of everyone. "Spears, ready!" The infantrymen readied their spears and braced.

The monster army was getting closer by the second. Volleys of arrows were still being fired, disintegrating monsters by the dozen but it did little to actually have an effect on their numbers.

Annabeth watched as the monsters clashed with the Roman wall of shield. Amazingly, the shield held the push. To counter, the Romans thrust their spears out from behind their shields, disintegrating all monsters close by.

"Attack!" Reyna ordered and all hell broke loose. Chaos ensued as both sides clashed with one another.

Annabeth ducked under a hellhound lunging for her head before stabbing her drakon sword into an empousa's gut. She spun around and slashed a hellhound on the snout before ending its life with a stab on its rump.

Reyna and Frank were the only two air combatants they have, with Reyna flying on her pegasus and Frank turning into a dragon and blowtorching everything that's not human.

The battle so far was going great. They were holding on as they destroy some of the monsters.

Naturally, that's when things go south drastically.

One of the infantrymen that held the shield was knocked over, creating a leak in their barrier. Monsters soon flood into their back lines, killing the Romans who were caught off guard.

Annabeth wanted to help them, but she was stuck up front with no way back. She stabbed a cyclopes on the knee before ducking under its legs and stabbing it behind the same knee. It crumbled into dust.

"Reyna!" Annabeth called. Reyna looked over towards her as she pulled her spear out of the head of a telkhine. Annabeth gestured at their backlines being invaded and Reyna nodded in understanding.

She flew over to where the enemy has gathered and raised the golden eagle. "Twelfth Legion Fulminata!" She shouted. An arc of lightning struck the eagle and it bounced from monster to monster, disintegrating them in the process.

The back lines managed to recover for a bit, but it didn't mean their problems were solved. Annabeth spotted Frank roaring in pain. His dragon body was riddled with arrows and bruises. He's going to be killed at this rate.

That's when Annabeth heard the whistle. A piercing taxicab whistle from out of nowhere. If caught everybody's attention. The fighting stopped momentarily.

Out of nowhere, a surge of something mowed over the monsters' back lines. At first, Annabeth thought Thalia was here along with the Hunt. Upon closer inspection, dread clenched its cold fist around her heart.

After meeting with Asanagi and having the revelation of the existence of Japanese pantheon, Annabeth studied about the Shinto religion. She studied all their gods, monsters and demons so that she could be prepared.

No amount of preparation could've prepared her for this ambush.

Japanese monsters, Yokai, ran through everything, Romans and monsters alike. Annabeth spotted Kitsunes, Tengus, - which is basically birds that can transform into humans that look like a red painted Pinocchio - Kappas, - which looked like Ninja Turtle rejects - and many more monsters.

There were also creatures standing at ten feet tall, which Annabeth figured must've been either trolls or ogres. Both of which is bad news.

Now, they were stuck in a three-sided war.

"Go my minions!" Someone shouted. "Fill the lands with the blood of our enemies!" Annabeth looked around to see man hovering high over everything. Annabeth couldn't really see from where she was standing, but the man had a white robe on, long black hair, thick mustache and a long goatee. On his head was something that looked like a golden crown, but Annabeth wasn't certain. In his hand was a sword that glowed brilliantly white.

"Who the fuck is that?" Annabeth muttered to herself.

As the mystery man floated over the battlefield, the sky darkened and the winds picked up speed. The clouds swirled above him and thunder boomed in the distance. He was brewing up a storm.

If the incoming storm was his fault, then Annabeth had a faint idea of who he is. If her guess turns out to be true, then they were in deep trouble.

"I am Susanoo-no-mikoto!" The man shouted. His voice sounded like it had been amplified through speakers. "All of you shall be cleansed from these lands!"

Now, the Roman legion has to defend themselves against the monsters, the Yokai, and Susanoo, the God of Sea and Storms.

Annabeth didn't know how to go against a Japanese deity. She could always talk to them or trick them, but that's almost impossible in this scenario.

In desperation, Annabeth yelled out one order. "Fall back! Fall back to the Pomerian Line!"

Annabeth's orders echoed through the ranks of the legion as they slowly retreated. Annabeth figured they could fall back while the monster and Yokai clashed. Annabeth slashed at a hellhound and stabbed another one. She narrowly dodges a boulder thrown by the Earthborns as she retreated.

The Romans were now retreating back to the Pomerian Line, the boundary between the city of New Rome and the outside world.

Since the gods had been silent, the boundaries of the Pomerian Line has been weakened and Terminus was nowhere to be seen. But the boundaries itself still have some powers. It acted more or less the same like Thalia's tree did in Camp Half-Blood, but Annabeth didn't know if it works on Japanese monsters.

The last of the Roman soldiers made it behind the Pomerian Line and stood guard at the edge of the boundary. The monsters chased them but they were also too busy dealing with the Yokai.

The storm was picking up as rain started to pour down on them heavily. Thunder rumbled repeatedly followed by lightning strikes.

"Destroy them all!" Susanoo ordered. Annabeth watched in horrified fascination at how easily the monster army was getting overrun. The Yokai army didn't outnumber them, but they were stronger.

Reyna and Frank found their way next to Annabeth. Reyna had some cuts here and there, but Frank looked a lot worse. His arms were riddled with bruises and wounds and blood was coming out of his mouth, which meant he had internal bleeding.

"Frank, you need to get some treatment." Annabeth said worriedly.

"I'm fine," He said in a pained voice. "I can't let Reyna handle this alone."

"Dude, I'm here, remember? You're not gonna be of much use if you're injured." Annabeth said.

"She's right." Reyna agreed. "I would prefer if you get some treatment. I would rather have no one rather than someone who would slow me down."

Frank looked like he wanted to protest, but he knew they were right. "Fine." He muttered.

Reyna nodded. "Medic!" Reyna called. A few Romans stepped out and started to work on Frank. Reyna turned towards Annabeth. "What are we dealing with?"

"I have good news, bad news and horrible news." Annabeth said. "Take your pick."

"Good news first." Reyna said grimly.

"It seems that the Yokai and the Greek monsters are fighting one another, which is helpful for us."

"Yokai?"

"Yokai," Annabeth said. "Japanese monsters. They're stronger than the monsters we've dealt with before."

"What's the bad news then?"

"That was it. They're stronger than monsters we're used to deal with."

"And the horrible news?" Reyna asked. As she said that, Susanoo landed right in front of them. Susanoo looked different now up close. He was wearing a red mask with an elongated nose, similar to a Tengu's mask.

"We're dealing with Susanoo," Annabeth said grimly. "God of Storm and Sea."

Susanoo turned towards them. "Ah, Greeks and Romans." He said. His voice sounds like a pile of stones grinding against one another. It made Annabeth's spine vibrate. "So nice to see a lot of sacrifice for Mother."

"What do you want with us?" Reyna stepped forward with her pegasus.

"Nothing that you can't give." Susanoo let out an evil laugh. He drew his sword, which glowed brilliantly white for something that was black in colour. "I want your blood to release my mother."

Annabeth gripped her sword tighter. She had about enough about gods wanting demigods' blood for something. "Why us?" Annabeth growled.

"Why, because of your lineage, of course!" Susanoo spread his arms as if this was obvious. Annabeth could see behind Susanoo that the Yokai army was closing in on them and were eyeing them like a feast. "You see, Japan don't have demigods. Most of the people there are descendants of Kami with nearly not enough power in their blood. You people, on the other hand . . ."

Susanoo stepped forward and inhaled deeply. "As I suspected. You people are direct spawns of gods. Your blood is half immortal. You would be perfect for the ritual!"

"Fat chance, Pinocchio." Frank said. He'd been stitched and bandaged up, but he looked better than before. "We demigods are not for sale."

"Ah, I was expecting a peaceful agreement. Looks like I'm going to resort to using force." Susanoo said.

The rainfall got heavier, making it hard to see. The winds were getting stronger. "Hold your positions!" Frank shouted through the storm.

"Goodbye, demigods!" Susanoo let out a manic laugh as the Yokai army charged at them.

Then, they all exploded into mushroom clouds. The Yokai army got decimated. Annabeth could barely see it, but another force was engaging the Yokai from the back lines. A group of people dressed in silver.

Annabeth's heart leapt with excitement. The Hunters made it. They were now pushing through enemy lines. "Romans! Charge!"

The Roman army charged into the battlefield with renewed vigor as they followed the momentum they'd gained through the Hunters.

Annabeth, Reyna and Frank stayed behind to face Susanoo.

"Those damned Hunters." Susanoo growled. A portion of the Yokai were still onto them. In that moment of distraction, Annabeth leaped forward with her sword drawn, going for the kill.

Susanoo reacted just in time as he moved out of the way. Annabeth planted her feet and turned swiftly, not planning to give Susanoo a chance to breathe. She struck downwards but Susanoo merely blocked with his sword. Annabeth's sword shattered as it collided with Susanoo's sword, sending her tumbling forward.

"Insolent girl." Susanoo growled. "Your blood will be the first to feed Mother!" Susanoo was about to bring his sword down on her, but something tackled him out of the way.

Frank had turned into an eight hundred pound grizzly bear and was going to town on Susanoo.

Reyna charged with her pegasus, her spear at the ready and tried to decapitate the god but he managed to duck under it.

Susanoo and Frank the bear was now wrestling, but Annabeth knew that Frank was losing. Frank was injured and Susanoo was a god. If they don't do something, they were going to lose this fight.

Turns out, they don't need to.

A lightning bolt struck at where they were fighting, sending Annabeth, Reyna, Frank and Susanoo flying in different directions.

Everything was blurry for a moment as Annabeth tried to shake off her dizziness and her blurry vision. The rain didn't help as she kept slipping.

As her vision cleared, Annabeth could see someone standing where the lightning had struck. A blonde boy dressed in black. He was glowing with blue with sparks of electricity coming out of him.

"Leave this place, Susanoo." The boy said. "It's under my protection."

Susanoo growled. "Don't think that you're safe just because you serve my father." Susanoo said. "You're just a weakling!"

"You want to test that?" The boy said. As Annabeth's vision cleared, she could see Jason standing in the middle of a small crater. He radiated intense power, something Annabeth haven't felt in a really long time.

Susuanoo shouted in defiance as he raised his sword, going in for the kill. Jason muttered something under his breath as he drew his swords. When he blocked Susanoo's strike, a powerful gust of wind blew out from Jason.

Behind him was a glowing projection that seemed to be made out of pure energy. The avatar looked fierce and aggressive with hair that looked like it had been blowdried with a wind cannon. The avatar was standing on a cloud with drums floating behind it in a circle so it formed a ring of drums.

"Impossible," Susanoo muttered. "Raijin?"

Jason pushed Susanoo back. "And Fujin. He hates to be left out."

Susanoo growled. He proceeded to strike at Jason in unbelievable speed. Jason just parried and dodged, staying on the defensive.

The two were locked in combat that would be impossible for any normal human, but Jason made it look easy. He parried, sidestepped and dodged perfectly. Susanoo was getting tired of being played around. He turned around and got a lucky shot on Jason's face with the back of his hand, but Jason grabbed Susanoo's hand and threw him over his shoulder.

Susanoo grunted in pain, but wasted no time in trying to stab Jason in the face. Jason narrowly dodged and grabbed on Susanoo's Tengu mask, trying to rip it off but Susanoo kicked Jason on the chest and sent him flying.

Lightning struck all around them. Annabeth didn't know if the lighting came from Jason or Susanoo but either way, she hoped none of them would be struck by lightning.

Jason weaved under Susanoo's wild swing and tried to slash at him, but Susanoo backstepped and countered with a high kick to Jason's head.

Jason grunted but he replied in kind by grabbing Susanoo's leg and did some sort of bicycle kick that reached Susanoo's head, sending both of them tumbling into the mud.

They stood up, glaring at each other. Susanoo charged in, but Jason kicked him on the face, shattering his Tengu mask.

The blue avatar behind Jason did nothing but only float behind him, but it seemed to provide Jason with power.

Susanoo grunted in pain, holding his face. His mask has been shattered and he's covering it with his hand. "This is not over, Raijin, Fujin. I will have my revenge. The blood of these demigods will feed Mother's thirst."

"And I will stop you if you attempt so." Jason glared at Susanoo. Susanoo glared back at him one last time before disappearing in a gust of black feathers.

Instantly, the storm stopped and the sky cleared. Annabeth looked over to where the Romans and Hunters were to see that they have made it alive safely.

"That was some next level shit." Frank muttered. "Hey Jason."

The avatar behind Jason had disappeared. Jason looked over to his friends and grinned.

"Hey guys."

**Line Break**

Casualties were abundant that Annabeth didn't feel like talking about it. So many Roman soldiers were gone including several Hunters.

It turns out, Asanagi was the one that caused the explosions Thalia had told her. She said they spotted someone suspicious with a mask chanting something and causing explosions.

Knowing that Asanagi was a descendant of the God of Fire, it could only be him. But after that, Thalia said he disappeared. Annabeth didn't question any more.

Now, Annabeth, Reyna, Thalia and Jason were gathered in one of the medical tents that had been set up inside the city of New Rome along with Frank and Hazel.

"So you're telling me," Reyna said. "That you were stuck in the Yomi for a year, got tutored by the gods of Japan and are now like super powerful?"

"I wouldn't call myself super powerful." Jason pointed out.

"But you whooped Susanoo's ass." Frank stated.

Jason shook his head. "That was not his full power. That was only a fraction of his power. Japanese gods don't mess around with their powers."

"You can say that again." Annabeth muttered. "But I'm glad that you're back, Jason."

"Glad to be back." Jason smiled.

There was a momentary moment of silence before Frank bit the question. "What in the world is actually happening right now?" He asked. "Why does it seem like the Japanese pantheon has its eyes on us?"

"It's because of the sibling rivalry between the gods." Jason said. "Amaterasu and Susanoo."

"Can you explain for us, Jason?" Annabeth asked.

Jason took a deep breath. "Amaterasu, Susanoo and Tsukuyomi are the Three Noble Children. They're gods born from Izanagi when Izanagi washed off the Yomi's pollution on his body after he'd ran away from his wife."

Annabeth remembered the story that Izanami herself had told her. "So they're children of Izanagi?"

Jason nodded. "Amaterasu is the Goddess of the Sun and the Universe, which makes her the most powerful out of the tree. Susanoo is the God of Storm and Sea and Tsukuyomi is the God of Moon and Night."

"Excuse me," Thalia interrupted. "Did you just say the deity for moon and night is a god? As in, male?"

Jason nodded. "Yeah, I know."

"That's disappointing." Thalia said.

"Anyway, Amaterasu and Susanoo always fight. They never see eye to eye. One time, Susanoo killed one of her sister's attendants. They did try to make up for a little while, but it didn't last long. Now, their relationship is worse than ever."

"So you're saying that these two gods are fighting with us in the middle?" Reyna asked.

"Yeah." Jason nodded. "Amaterasu plans on banishing Susanoo from the realm of the gods altogether with the support of her father, Izanagi. Susanoo, meanwhile, plans on raising his mother, Izanami, from the land of Yomi so that she could take revenge on Izanagi for leaving her."

"That's kind of . . . selfish." Hazel supplied.

"Yeah but we can't really talk for ourselves." Thalia pointed out which is true. The Olympians themselves have done some selfish shit.

"Who're we supposed to be siding with?" Annabeth asked.

Jason sighed. "Honestly, I don't know. I personally am going to fight for Amaterasu because I don't want to see the Goddess of Death rampaging through our world."

"That should be obvious, shouldn't it?" Frank said. "Of couse we're gonna fight against Izanami."

"It's not obvious to some people." Jason said angrily.

"What do you mean?" Annabeth asked. She glanced over towards Thalia's direction to see that she had a look of sadness on her face. "What's wrong?"

"It's about Percy." Thalia said softly.

Annabeth's heart lit up. Any news about Percy will bring her closer to him. "What is it?"

"The last time I saw him." Jason said. "He said he's going to side with Izanami."

**Line Break**

Asanagi studied the damaged city of New Rome. At least the city wasn't totally destroyed and most of the Romans were still alive.

He stood on a branch of a tree with someone standing on the tree next to him.

"Are you sure about this?" Asanagi asked. "Jason's with them, you know?"

"I know." The man said. "It's going to be fine."

"What if they turn on you?" Asanagi asked.

"If they do, then so be it." The man argued. "I'm doing this for everyone."

"You're going to be branded as an enemy." Asanagi pointed out.

The man was silent for a while. "I'll handle it."

"You might have the power of Amaterasu, but that won't do much if you kill yourself using it."

"Like I said, I'll handle it." The man said before he disappeared in a pillar of flames.

Asanagi sighed. "Stubborn as a hippocampus."

**A/N: Ta daaaaa!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Glad to see you guys are enjoying it so far.**

**Surya25addanki: Yeah I want that too. Maybe we'll see him, who knows?**

**PJandLGeaqualsLove: Ah, such vivid imaginations. Sorry, but not spoilers.**

**Timbo8: Ah again, such vivid and wild imagination. No spoilers :D**

**Simbylosis: The way you laugh makes me think that we have different reasons of liking it since it's Japanese.**

**Anyway, onwards!**

**Chapter 6**

Annabeth woke up to the sound of heavy rain and lightning crashing loudly. She was in one of the houses in the city of New Rome, courtesy of Frank and Reyna.

She looked out her window to see that it was raining heavily. It was unusual because normally, bad weather would just pass over the borders of the camp and the city like it did in Camp Half-Blood.

Out of this, two things must've happened. Either someone had purposely let the bad weather in or some powerful deity is making this happen.

Somehow, Annabeth was sure it wasn't the former.

There was a knock on her bedroom door. She just remembered that Thalia was staying in the house along with her. Annabeth opened the door to see Thalia was already in gear, dressed for battle.

"Wow, you looking foxy." Thalia said. "Isn't that shirt a little too big for you?"

Annabeth looked at how she was dressed. In shorts and a shirt that was too big for her. The shirt was Percy's and she had a bad habit of putting it on when she sleeps.

"It's Percy's." Annabeth blushed.

Thalia laughed. "Well, get dressed. We have to go."

"Go where?"

"A diplomatic meeting, as Frank put it." Thalia said. "We're meeting Asanagi."

"Give me a minute." Annabeth said before heading to the bathroom. She brushed her teeth and combed her hair quickly before putting on her orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and denim shorts. She didn't bother showering since it's raining anyway. She washed her face and wiped the water off before heading back towards Thalia.

They exited the building and was met with heavy wind and downpour. Thalia snapped her fingers and they were suddenly protected by a thin layer of barrier.

"What did you do?" Annabeth asked.

"You like it?" Thalia wiggled her eyebrows. "I've been practicing my powers with the winds. I don't have much control over it like Jason, but it's pretty handy."

Just as she said that, their barrier disappeared and they were exposed to the rain again. "And it needs work." Annabeth said as she ran through the rain towards the Senate Hall with Thalia close behind her.

When she entered, it turns out they were waiting for her.

She could see Reyna and Frank, sitting at the Praetors' chair. Hazel sat next to Jason, who was sitting next to Piper. Annabeth didn't know when Piper had got here, but she was glad to see her face. Piper waved at her and she waved back.

Across the table was another group of people. Annabeth recognized one of them as Asanagi, with his brown hair, black outfit and that comically large sized bow. But the other two next to him, Annabeth didn't recognize.

One of them, at least, Annabeth could see her face. She had black hair that was tied into a ponytail, a very smooth-looking pale skin and red luscious lips. She was wearing what looked like a plain pink yukata, so she looked more like a Japanese noble than someone normal. Plus, she also looks very young. If Annabeth had to guess, she's probably twelve.

The other one Annabeth couldn't get a good read on. He wore a cone-shaped red straw hat so Annabeth couldn't really see his face. He was also wearing a crimson red yukata with two swords strapped to the left side of his waist.

"Glad you could join us." Reyna said. "Why are you wet?"

"It's raining cats and dogs outside." Annabeth pointed out.

"Nevermind then. Take a seat, you two." Reyna said.

Annabeth embarrassingly walked over to where her friends were sitting. Her and Thalia's wet footsteps echoed in the room, making weird noises as they walked.

If only Percy was here, he could dried them out instantly, Annabeth thought to herself.

Instantly, all the water in her clothes and body seemed to evaporate away. Just like how Percy used to do whenever her clothes got wet.

She looked around frantically. "Percy?" She muttered.

Everyone looked at her funnily until the girl in the yukata raised her hand. She then proceeded to say something in Japanese that Annabeth didn't understand.

Asanagi stood up to translate. "She says that it was her. She dried up your clothes for you."

Annabeth was grateful but was a bit disappointed. She thought it was Percy. "Thanks." Annabeth bowed slightly. The yukata girl nodded before sitting back down as Annabeth and Thalia took their seats. Thalia sat next to Annabeth while Annabeth was sat next to Piper.

"Now that everyone's here, let us begin the introductory part." Frank said. "I am Frank Zhang, a praetor of Camp Jupiter."

"And I am Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano, also a praetor of Camp Jupiter. And we welcome you, our guests."

Asanagi stood up and bowed slightly. "Thank you for your hospitality. I am, as most of you have known, Asanagi Kamamura and I act as a representative of our clan, the Ashikaga Clan." He then gestured to the two people with him. "These are my friends."

The yukata girl stood up. She then said something in Japanese again, to which none of them understood. Asanagi decided to translate. "Her name is Ashikaga Kira - at her request, you may call her Kira - and she's a descendant of Suijin."

"The God of Water." Annabeth pointed out. "And I assume you are related to the head of the Ashikaga Clan, right?"

Asanagi nodded. "She's the daughter of the current head of the clan."

Annabeth made a mental note that they didn't mention the name of their leader.

"And this one is known as Musei." Asanagi gestured at his friend with the straw hat. "He doesn't have any godly ancestors, but he's our second best swordsman."

Musei nodded slightly and that was it. "He doesn't talk much, does he?" Piper pointed out.

"He doesn't talk at _all_." Asanagi explained.

"Why?" Thalia asked. "Is he too afraid to speak to strangers?"

"No, I mean like, he doesn't talk. As in, he can't talk. His name literally translates to 'voiceless'." Asanagi said.

"Oh," Thalia took a sudden interest in her feet. "Sorry. My bad."

"It's okay." Asanagi said. Then he turned towards their group. "I believe I've met everyone except for the two ladies." Asanagi gestured at Piper and Thalia.

Reyna nodded. "Piper, Thali, will you please introduce yourself?"

They nodded. "My name's Piper and I am a daughter of Aphrodite, Goddess of Love." Piper said.

"And I'm Thalia," Thalia said. "Daughter of Zeus, a member of the Hunt, Lieutenant of Artemis."

Asanagi bowed slightly. "Pleasure to be your acquaintance." Asanagi turned towards the praetors. "Now, I would like to talk about the current threat that we are facing and a proposal on how to handle it."

"So what are we dealing with right now?" Jason asked.

Asanagi took a deep breath. "The two sides of the world is going to war as we know it. The Ame and the Yomi."

"Ame?" Hazel asked.

"The Heavens." Asanagi supplied. "Where the heavenly gods reside."

"Kind of like Olympus then," Piper said.

Asanagi continued. "These two forces of nature are going to have a war and we are stuck in between. It goes all the way back with the rivalry between Izanagi and Izanami."

"Who are those people?" Thalia asked.

"Husband and wife." Annabeth said. She then proceeded to explain on how they created Japan and how by being a jerk to his wife, Izanagi raised the Goddess of Death. It surprises Annabeth that she remembered how Izanami told the story to her.

"That's . . . horrible." Thalia summed up.

"So I'm guessing because of this, they're going to have a fight?" Annabeth asked.

"Partly." Asanagi agreed. "Most of the war boils down to Amaterasu and Susanoo."

It links to what Jason had explained to them. "Who are they?" Hazel asked.

"Amaterasu is considered to be the Kami with the highest divinity. Susanoo is her brother and they don't exactly have the relationship as siblings would have." Asanagi said. "Susanoo preferred their mother Izanami while Amaterasu is with their father, Izanagi."

"So you're telling me that the reason we are being invaded by the Japanese pantheon is because of some stupid rivalry?" Reyna grumbled.

"You'd be surprised on how such little things cause some big troubles." Asanagi said.

"Yeah." Frank said. "Like my stick."

Asanagi raised an eyebrow but didn't ask any further questions. "And so, because of the feud between Susanoo and Amaterasu, a war is upon us. Izanami has been trying to open up entrances to the Yomi everywhere, trying to take over the Earth as we know it."

"How come Amaterasu isn't doing anything?" Piper asked. "Isn't she supposed to make preparations assuming Susanoo invades?"

"There are two reasons for that." Asanagi held up his hand with two fingers. "One, even if Susanoo and Izanami invades the Earth, they still have to cross the bridge from Earth to Heaven. So guarding the bridge is all that really matters."

"Seems logical." Annabeth said. The she sees it, that's the best move for them to make. If this bridge Asanagi mentioned is the only way from Earth to Heaven, then they should just put everything they have in defending the bridge.

That is, without considering the fact that billions of lives will be lost should the Earth be overrun by the dead.

"The second reason is that Amaterasu knows we will defend the Earth." Asanagi said. "You all realize the threat that the Yomi brings to this world. She knows you will defend, whether you want to or not."

"That's kind of presumptuous, don't you think?" Thalia asked.

"It isn't if she's right." Jason added. "I do want to defend this world. Unlike some people . . ." Jason said in an angry tone.

"What's wrong?" Asanagi asked.

"It's about our friend, Percy." Reyna said.

Annabeth didn't know if she was just imagining it or if she was just really observant, but she caught a slight tense in both Kira's and Musei's shoulders when Reyna mentioned Percy's name.

Kira's eyes widened briefly as if she'd just realized something but then her expression calmed again.

The only person who wasn't surprised was Asanagi. "Your friend that disappeared, if I'm not mistaken."

Reyna nodded. "When Jason returned, he said that Percy had decided to serve Izanami. Which means, he's currently . . ." Reyna wanted to say _an enemy_, but she couldn't find the words. Hard as it may be to accept the truth, Percy was still their friend.

"An enemy." Jason grumbled. "He's an enemy."

"We don't know that yet." Annabeth said. She refused the accept the fact that Percy had abandoned them.

"We do, Annabeth." Jason stood up. "He'd turned over to the enemy. He wants to see this world ruin."

"No he doesn't." Annabeth stood up and glared at Jason. Anger was boiling in her chest. "I know Percy and he won't do that."

"Well guess what, I know Percy as well." Jason snapped. "And look what happened. He's now with the enemy. Get it through your thick head."

"He's my friend, Jason. I know him and he wouldn't have done this."

"He's my friend too, Annabeth. But apparently that didn't matter because the last time we met, he had almost killed me."

"But he's not-"

"For gods' sake Annabeth!" Jason shouted. Electricity was sparking all around him. "You're a child of Minerva! You're supposed to be the rational one! Put your emotions aside and see the truth!"

"And you're supposed to be his friend!" Annabeth snapped back.

"He's gone!" Jason shouted. "I've accepted that fact. When are you going to do the same?" Annabeth had a feeling that Jason was directing the question to everyone and not just Annabeth.

Annabeth wanted to cry. She wanted to punch something. She wanted to stab something with a dagger.

Before her dark desires took control over her body, Annabeth could hear the sound of clapping somewhere in the room.

"Well, well," A familiar voice said. "It looks like I don't need to do much for our plan." Annabeth instinctively went for her weapon, along with the others.

"Who are you?" Frank asked with his bow drawn. "Show yourself!"

The voice laughed. "I love this! Family drama, conflicting emotions and worst of all," A man stepped out of the shadows. "Wrong decisions."

Annabeth felt like the ground had opened up and swallowed her. Thalia's face had the complexion of a ghost. The others didn't seem surprised which made sense.

Thalia and Annabeth were the only ones in the room to have met him.

Aside from the left side of his body, everything about him was just how Annabeth had remembered him. He was tall and athletic, similar to a college-aged man. His face is where everything went wrong.

The good half of his face was still the same. Handsome, blue eyes, close-cropped sandy blonde hair and a jagged scar running under his eye over his cheek. The left half of his body was badly damaged. It was burnt and wounded, which Annabeth presumed was from the time he'd hosted Kronos.

"Luke?" Annabeth said.

"Hey Annie," Luke grinned but with his face like that, it was hard to tell. It's like watch a real life version of Two-Face, the villain in the Dark Knight.

"What . . . How?"

"Oh, that's a long story." Luke said like they were old friends meeting together after a long time. "I'd love to chat but I'm here for a different reason."

"And what might that be?" Reyna asked.

"Do not take his word lightly." Asanagi warned. He had his large bow drawn. Musei had both his swords out and Kira was holding something that looked like a shaman stick. Where did she get it from, Annabeth had no idea because she wasn't holding that thing before. "He's been corrupted by the Yomi's pollution."

"Ooh, smart guy." Luke grinned. "I'm here to tell you all something especially you, Sparky." Luke pointed at Jason. "Yeah, Susanoo's pissed at you. I'm here to relay the message to stay away from our plans. Trust me, you do not want to get involved."

"You're with them?" Thalia asked. "You're with Izanami? Haven't you betrayed us enough?"

Luke looked at each of them individually. "Betray? Oh, oh you think, oh." He then started to laugh hysterically. "Oh, oh that's funny."

"What's funny?" Jason growled. Luke was still laughing. "Answer me, dammit!"

Luke gradually stopped laughing. "Haven't laughed like that in a while. Ah, you're funny Thals. Welp, I've gotta run. I can't stay here very long. Remember the message, demigods. Peace!"

"Wait!" Annabeth called but Luke then proceeded to disappear into his own shadow. An unsettling moment of silence filled the room.

Then, Kira spoke something in Japanese to Asanagi. Asanagi replied something and nodded at Kira before he turned towards the rest of them.

"I'm sorry that our meeting has been interrupted." Asanagi said. "But Kira and I have to report this to our leader."

Reyna and Frank exchanged looks. "We understand." Reyna said. "I'm sorry this meeting didn't go as planned."

Asanagi nodded. "If possible, I wish to continue our discussion at a later time."

"Agreed." Reyna said.

"Kira and I will take our leave. We will leave Musei in your care. If an entrance to the Yomi appear in your camp, he will help you." Asanagi explained. Musei nodded slightly in agreement.

"We appreciate the help because we don't know a damn thing about closing up these entrances." Frank admitted.

"In exchange, we would like to take Annabeth with us." Asanagi said.

"Um, what?" Annabeth asked.

"From the way you reacted, I assume that you and Thalia know who that is, correct?" Asanagi asked.

"Y-yeah." Annabeth managed.

"Then we will need your help in explaining this to our leader." Asanagi said.

"I'm not sure this is a good idea." Annabeth said as she looked around at her friends, asking for their help to get her out of this.

She then caught a glimpse of Reyna's expression and their eyes locked momentarily. It was as if Reyna's sending a telepathic message to her.

_It's a good opportunity for us to gain information on them._

Annabeth was reluctant but she nodded slightly to Reyna and Reyna nodded back. "This won't take long, right?" Annabeth asked.

"Unless our leader decides to make you his wife, then no."

"Ha, I feel safer." Annabeth said nervously.

Asanagi managed a chuckled. "Until next time, friends." He said before he disappeared in a blink of an eye along with Kira.

Musei walked over towards Reyna, handed her a piece of paper before bowing and then disappearing as well.

"'Tear this if you need me. Musei'." Reyna read. "Huh, that's convenient."

That was a rather eventful day.

**A/N: Whoop.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: It's been a busy week for me since it's the holidays. I know. Holidays are meant to be the period of time where I ****_wasn't _****supposed to be busy, and yet life finds its way. So, yeah. **

**Timbo8: Great speculating. Not confirming anything or denying anything. Keep it up. I always enjoy reading what you guys think is happening with the story.**

**Simbylosis: I'm gonna address your points one by one. First point, I don't know myself. Second, no spoilers. And I've looked up what you meant by Senko-san and, well, potentially. Third, my stick made me chuckle. And finally, Leo and Calypso hasn't returned from Ogygia. So, there ya go.**

**Surya25addanki: Exactly my intention.**

**The-Fire-In-Heart: Perhaps. No spoilers.**

**TalentedTal420: I get this a lot and I know you guys are upset I'm not updating my other stories. It's just that I want to update them when I feel like updating them, that way I can come up with a chapter that I'm passionate about and not some half-assed forced out chapter. I'm going for quality over quantity. Besides, if I write based on my own preferences, it's a win-win for both sides. I'm happy with what I write and you guys are happy with a good chapter. **

**With that said, onwards!**

**Chapter 7**

Nico and Ken had become a lethal duo over the past few days. Ken handled the sealing of the entrances to the Yomi while Nico handled everything else that seemed eager to kill them.

Nico learned that no matter from what pantheon, ghosts are still ghosts. And he was one of the few experts in making those ghosts go away. Ken said that Nico's skill in 'exorcising' ghosts would rival some of the top exorcists that he knew.

Now, they were on their way to a supply shop for ninjas, as Nico would like to call it.

"Remind me, why do I have to get new clothes?" Nico grumbled. "You don't like dark colors?"

"Well there's that." Ken pointed out. "But there's also the fact that your wardrobe is running empty and I'm running out of charms to keep you safe from Yomi's pollution."

Ken had a point. Every time they enter the Yomi, which was a necessity for closing the entrance, Nico had to burn his clothes in order to avoid them from turning into nasty demons. He didn't know what kind of demons his clothes would turn into, but he didn't want to find out. Because of that, his was running out of clothes.

Ken's charm helped, but only for his body. To ensure that he wouldn't have to fight in the Yomi naked, Ken suggested that he get some Yomi pollution resistant clothing from a shop run by his clan, as he called it.

Nico wasn't too happy about it, but he figured it was for the best. Plus, he was interested in seeing what Ken's clan is all about.

According to Ken, he's part of the Taira Clan, one of the twelve main clans in existence. Nico tried asking more about his clan, but apparently he'd sworn to secrecy or something because he would always say that he's 'unable to tell' Nico.

Fair enough.

This shop that they were heading to lies in the city. Nico hadn't been one for places with a lot of people. Since Ken was a man of secret, he expected this shop to be hidden in some sort of back alley or hidden doorway.

He was surprised when Ken turned and entered into a small souvenir shop. Nico read the title.

_GIFTS FOR WHEN YOU'RE VISITING JAPAN!_

"You've got to be kidding me." Nico muttered.

Ken managed a smile. "Come on in."

Nico entered along with Ken. The place was filled with shelves with various souvenirs ranging from snow globes, small sculptures to what looks like a bad replica of his father. Nico would've been offended if it didn't look so funny.

The place smelled dusty, like an old attic. Everything in this place looks old enough to be in a museum. If they were hiding some sort of secret shop here, this would've kept anyone away.

At the counter, there was a guy dressed in a traditional outfit that resembled a Japanese farmer. He had a cone shaped straw hat made out of hay and a shirt that has been stitched and patched up so he looked more like a beggar than a cashier.

He was sitting behind the counter with his head resting on one hand. He didn't look awake and Nico sensed no life force coming from him.

"Don't tell me that guy's dead." Nico said.

"Fine, I won't tell you." Ken said. "Come." He gestured for Nico to follow him.

Good to know Ken still has some sense of humour.

Nico followed Ken behind the counter and into the door leading to the back of the shop. He half expected for the cashier to yell at them for trespassing, but nothing happened. Nico shrugged and followed Ken.

The back of the shop looked nothing like the front.

White glowing tiles were lined up on the floor and the ceiling, providing them with enough light that would hurt anyone's eyes. Along one side of the wall were shelves decorated with all bunch of things from weapons to charms to talismans. The other side of the wall hung clothing that looked like the ones Ken is wearing but in different variation.

In the middle of the room along the floor were display tables, lined up with maps, materials and what looked like a table specifically for painting.

"Whoa," Nico let out. "This is some Men In Black shit."

Ken gave a smug grin. "The Taira Clan looks out for their own. I'm going to find a garb that's suitable for you. You can take a look around but don't touch anything."

"Not gonna make that promise." Nico said as he walked over towards where the maps were. It was a map of what looked like New York. On several places, there were black spots as if someone had poured a drop of ink on them. "I'm guessing these are maps to the Yomi entrances?"

Ken nodded. "These maps detect concentrated Yomi pollution within the area and highlight them. Though it's not a hundred percent reliable. They can only detect big entrances that produce a ton of Yomi pollution. The small entrances, not so much."

Nico studied the map further. There were dozens of black spots in New York alone. "How are we going to seal these entrances all by ourselves?"

"We can't, of course. At least, not by ourselves." Ken said as he rummaged through the wall with clothes. "The twelve warrior clans of Japan have been working together in sealing these entrances. There're hundreds of us working together to stop the Yomi from invading our land. And as you can see, it's not enough."

Nico knew what he was talking about. If there are hundreds of people working on sealing these entrances and there are still this many, it won't be long until the land of the dead invades this world.

He then moved towards the wall assorted with weapons. There were swords, spears, staffs, maces, bows, and a bunch of weapons Nico has never seen before. One looked like police batons and one looked like three sticks tied together in the end by rope.

"What is this thing?" Nico pointed at the three sticks.

"Sansetsukon." Ken explained. "A three-sectioned staff. It's kind of like nunchucks' older brother."

Nico was busy going through the different weapons when Ken suddenly handed him his new clothing. "Here you go. This should fit you."

Nico looked at the attire. Now, he has played his fair share of Mythomagic and he'd been a fan of mythologies and fantasy things.

In his eyes, this was definitely a ninja outfit.

"You want me to dress like a ninja?" Nico asked.

"What? No. This is a warrior's outfit. It suits you."

"It looks like something out of Mortal Kombat."

"It does its job." Ken insisted. "The clothing will protect you from the Yomi pollution. Plus, it's way easier to move in these compared to the skinny jeans you insist on wearing."

"They're comfortable."

"They're constricting." Ken argued. "At least try them on first."

Nico grumbled as he changed his clothes.

The garb was black in color and was easily twice Nico's size, but the cutting barely reached Nico's wrists and ankles so that he wouldn't trip himself trying to walk in them. Over the garb was a blood red tunic that hugged his chest and made his shoulders look broader.

"Now the hood." Ken said.

"I'm not putting on the hood."

"Dude, the hood." Ken insisted. Nico groaned in annoyance he pulled the hood over his head and wrapped a black scarf loosely around his head, covering everything except for his eyes. "See, I told you it would look good."

It was actually a lot more comfortable than Nico had originally though. The fabric was soft on his skin and it provided him with a lot more mobility compared to his usual attire.

"It feels like I'm dressed in pyjamas." Nico said.

"Fight in comfort, not in glory." Ken said. "Those are wise words. You should remember it."

"Who said that?"

"Me." Ken grinned. Then, a very loud bell rang. It sounded like one of those old fashioned bells where you have to hit it with a massive stick. "Oh."

"What's that?" Nico asked.

"An emergency." Ken said. "The Twelve Clans have called for a meeting. Let's go."

"Are you sure I'm allowed to come?" Nico asked.

"Well, assuming you don't seem threatening to anyone you'll be fine."

"I'm dressed like a ninja." Nico pointed out.

"You'll be fine. Come, we must hurry."

**Line Break**

Annabeth had shadow traveled before. It was a pretty terrifying experience. It's like riding a super fast roller coaster in the dark with sub-zero temperatures and voices constantly whispering in your ears.

So when Asanagi used his way of transport, Annabeth thought she was ready for it.

It turns out traveling as if your body was made out of wind was an out-of-body experience. Literally.

Annabeth felt like a pinball in a pinball machine. She kept being bounced off of nothing while at the same time feeling like she's being pulled from either direction.

The scenery seemed to blur in her eyes, as if her surroundings had been stretched by something as she moved very fast.

When it finally stopped, Annabeth collapsed to her knees trying to catch her breath.

"Sorry about that." Asanagi said. "Wind travels can be uncomfortable to some people."

Annabeth felt like her insides were trying to crawl out of her throat. "A little warning next time would be nice." She groaned.

Asanagi smiled apologetically. He handed Annabeth something. It was a red candy wrapped in plastic. "Here. This'll help."

Annabeth took the candy, unwrapped it and ate it. It tasted bitter for a moment before gradually turning sweet. In a few seconds, her queasiness disappeared as she regained her bearings.

"Thanks," She said as she stood up. Annabeth took a moment to look at her surroundings.

"It's only a temporary place for us to operate." Asanagi said. "Our real base is in Japan."

The place was like a military operating base mixed with buildings from Edo period architecture.

Around the whole encampment were stone walls with blue roof over them. They stood over twelve feet tall and would be difficult to climb due to the vertical surface. It's perfect to guard against ground attacks.

Along the walls, watch towers were lined up with archers in them. Any aerial threat would be no problem for them.

The encampment was filled with tents and buildings that looked like jet hangars. In the middle of everything was a three storey pagoda with rooftops that were built in layers with one another.

"Whoa," Annabeth marveled.

"You should see the base we have in Japan." Asanagi said. "It's mainly built off of an old military site from the Heian period, but it's beautiful."

"I'd love to see that." Annabeth said wistfully. Then, her mind refocused on the mission at hand. "I assume your leader is at that tall building over there."

"Actually, no." Asanagi said. "That is our training hall."

"Why do you require such a huge training hall?" Annabeth asked.

"You'd be surprised." Asanagi chuckled. He turned towards Kira and muttered something in Japanese. Kira nodded and disappeared into the wind. "Come. Kira will inform her father that we're coming so they don't attack us on sight."

"That's reassuring." Annabeth muttered. "Lead the way."

Asanagi lead the way towards where their leader was settled. Walking through the Ashikaga encampment, Annabeth had to admit that the Japanese were well prepared considering this was a temporary place for them. There were horse stables, blacksmiths, small diners, there was even a noodle stall. The place was basically a small Japanese town.

"How long have you guys been here?" Annabeth asked.

"We've been here since far longer than when I joined." Asanagi said. "Only the Ashikaga Clan worked independently and was not as big as it is now. But over the years, the threat of the Yomi have increased. So we increased our forces and worked with other clans to make sure we could handle them."

"How many clans are there?" Annabeth asked. Her objective was to gather information, but she was just genuinely interested. It's always fun to learn something new.

"Technically speaking, there are hundreds of clans in Japan." Asanagi started. "A family could be considered as a small clan. But if we're talking about the big boys, there are twelve main clans in general with the smaller clans being under their ruling."

"I assume the Ashikaga is one of those main twelve considering the size of your temporary base." Annabeth pointed out.

Asanagi nodded. "Within those twelve, three of them held the most power. The Ashikaga being one of them, along with the Taira Clan and the Tokugawa Clan." Asanagi had a bit of an edge in his voice.

"You don't seem too enthusiastic about them."

"The Taira and Tokugawa have been allies since the Nobunaga Era. Needless to say, they're on great terms with each other. With us? Not so much." Asanagi said.

"I thought you said the clans are all working together."

"Yeah, it's more complicated than that." Asanagi said. "It's a more political situation, if you could say it like that."

Annabeth had no interest in the politics of ancient Japanese clans, so she decided not to press it.

By the time they arrived to where they wanted to go, Annabeth was . . . unimpressed. Leaders, or the head of a clan, should have buildings representing their stature. A mansion or a castle. Something that says, _to everyone here, I'm in charge_.

Annabeth was surprised to see them in front of a regular green tent. It's not even a big one. It's more like a tent that you bring when you go camping.

Kira was already by the side of the entrance of the tent. As soon as they arrive in the vicinity of the tent, a head popped out of the flaps.

A middle-aged man looked around and grinned when he saw Isanagi. He had a scraggly beard and white cloth wrapped around his forehead that covered some of his black hair.

When he exited the tent, Annabeth noticed just how big he actually was. He was muscular and tall, built like a heavyweight wrestler. He wore a green sleeveless shirt over his slightly tanned body along with jeans and rubber boots.

As far as first impression goes, Annabeth thought he was a seasoned fisherman. The kind of guy who'd been spending a lot of his time under the sun near the sea.

"What do we have here?" The man grinned at Annabeth. Next to him, Annabeth looked like a midget.

"My lord." Asanagi dropped to one knee along with Kira as they respectfully bowed. Not wanting to be seen as a threat, Annabeth did the same.

"Ah, the girl has some manners!" The man said. It seems like he insists in speaking in a hearty volume. "Now, what brings you here, girl?"

Annabeth tried not to get nervous in front of the head of the Ashikaga Clan, but it's kind of hard considering he gave out an aura imposing enough to be similar to a god.

"We have information on our current situation," Asanagi explained. "This girl, Annabeth, has valuable information."

The man grinned with his teeth showing. He has perfect teeth, Annabeth observed. "Very well! I shall speak with her privately."

Asanagi nodded as the man entered his tent. Annabeth looked over towards Asanagi for confirmation. He gave a reassuring nod. "It's fine."

"He won't eat me, will he?" Annabeth whispered.

"Nonsense! Ha ha ha!" The man laughed from the tent. "Come now, girl. We must talk!"

Annabeth gulped as she entered the tent.

Annabeth expected the tent to be like the tents of the Hunters of Artemis. Small on the outside, big on the inside.

Nope.

It was exactly the same tent as the outside as it is on the inside.

At least it was comfortable. The floor was covered with tatami mats. Aside from the bundle of blanket and pillows on one side of the tent and a huge sword next to it, there's nothing else to see in this tent.

The man sat cross-legged in the tent, grinning and waiting for Annabeth. Annabeth nervously sat down facing him.

"Before anything, allow me to introduce myself." The man said with a surprising decrease in his volume. Glad to know he has an inside voice. "My name is Ashikaga Kiragi. You can call me Lord Kiragi."

Annabeth bowed slightly. "I am Annabeth Chase. It's a pleasure to meet you, Lord Kiragi."

Lord Kiragi nodded. Annabeth could feel the intensity of his eyes baring on Annabeth. "So, Asanagi tells me you have valuable information."

Annabeth took a deep breath. She started to explain from during Asanagi and her friends wanted to have a diplomatic meeting up until when Luke interfered their meeting.

Lord Kiragi was a very good listener though it was unnerving. Annabeth then explained who Luke was and how she met her.

"Interesting." Lord Kiraga said after Annabeth was finished. "I shall look more into this."

Annabeth nodded. There was then an unsettling silence between them. It wasn't until for a few seconds when Annabeth noticed that Lord Kiraga was studying her. "Um, is there something wrong, Lord Kiraga?"

"He describes you very well, Annabeth." Lord Kiraga stated. "I see now why he does this."

Annabeth was confused. "What do you mean?"

"Why, your friend of course!" Lord Kiraga grinned widely. "He's the best swordsman the Ashikaga Clan has. Even Musei doesn't even come close."

"Wait, I don't know who you're talking about."

"Percy Jackson." Lord Kiraga said. "He's a friend of yours, isn't he?"

**Line Break**

A massive entrance has opened up into the Yomi and the Japanese demigods have been unable to seal it. Yokai has been pouring out at an absurd rate, overwhelming the squadron of demigods trying to seal it.

It looked to be a lost cause, akin to a massacre.

"We need back up!" One person shouted as they were being forced back by the Yokai. It looked grim.

Then, their saviour came.

Dressed in an orange shirt and jeans, he looked unimpressive save for the sword strapped around his belt. The once leaf-shaped blade was now a single edged sword, similar to a samurai's sword.

Around his head was a black scarf, covering his face. But almost everyone knew who he was.

Kuraokami's Disciple. Amaterasu's Warrior. Son of the Sea. Asura's Incarnation. There were many titles for him over the past three years.

But everyone knew of his powers.

"Stand back." Percy said. "I'll handle this."

**A/N: That tease.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Had a rough day today. Figured I could vent some steam through writing.**

**Gayathri: Soon.**

**UnknownReader: Thanks!**

**PJandLGequalsLove: Here ya go!**

**Simbylosis: I don't think that's the perfect way of describing it, but who am I to judge?**

**Aix98forever: Okay I'm gonna need you to change the name because that's just weird. And, no spoilers.**

**BTW, some corrections on the previous chapter in which I kept changing the name of Ashikaga's leader from Kiragi to Kiraga. The official name is Kiraga. My bad on that one.**

**Now, onwards.**

**Chapter 8**

Annabeth was back at Camp Jupiter, sipping Roman hot chocolate with an astounding view over the whole of New Rome.

The view would've been beautiful if Annabeth's mind hadn't been so cluttered and confused.

After her brief visit to the Ashikaga Clan's base, she'd been left with even more questions than answers. Their meeting had to be cut short due to Lord Kiraga being summoned for an urgent meeting between clan leaders.

Lord Kiraga had been good enough to allow Annabeth to meet him personally. He'd expressed his interest in working together with Camp Jupiter to extinguish the threat of the Yomi. Annabeth had replied that she wishes so that they could arrange a formal discussion between the two sides without interruption, to which Lord Kiraga agreed.

But before that, he mentioned that Percy was, or still is, a member of the Ashikaga Clan. When Annabeth asked further, his explanation was brief. Percy had stayed with them in their base in Japan for a little over a year before he . . . turned.

According to Lord Kiraga, Percy already has the powers of the sea flowing within him. That made him a suitable choice to be a student of the Kuraokami way. He followed the path of the God of Rain and Snow. He quickly became one of the best swordsman the Ashikaga Clan has seen and soon, all of Japan. He'd made a name for himself for becoming a fearsome warrior.

When Annabeth confronted Asanagi about it, he claimed that he'd never heard of Percy until when Annabeth mentioned him.

Percy had become one of Japan's most valuable asset in fighting against the Yokai and the forces of the Yomi. That is until he decided to go rogue. Percy decided to reject their ways and not follow orders. Any attempt to subdue him was met with resistance.

At first, he was branded as a traitor and as an enemy. But then they've been receiving reports about Percy helping out demigods in closing Yomi entrances and then disappearing like the wind. No one could track him. Any attempts to fight him was futile.

Most of the twelve main clans don't really see him as an ally, but they don't see him as an enemy either. They keep him in their watch list as potential threats. Some clans, like the Ashikaga, supported Percy.

The Japanese branded Percy as a Ronin, a drifter, a wanderer. A warrior that serves no master.

What bothered Annabeth the most was the fact that Percy decided to go rogue. Percy was loyal to a fault. If the Ashikaga was as nice as they'd claimed, Percy would've been loyal to them.

And if, as Jason claims, Percy really did supported Izanami, then why is he closing off the entrances to they Yomi and why didn't he sabotage the Ashikaga's in the first place?

And if he really went rogue, was it because he was influenced by Izanami? Did he join her at that point? But even if he did, why was he still closing entrances to the Yomi?

The questions were swirling in Annabeth's mind that she almost didn't notice Reyna sitting down on the bench next to her. "You know, if you keep glaring at your chocolate like that you're gonna drill a hole through the mug." Reyna said.

Annabeth managed a chuckled. "It's been a crazy day." Annabeth said. "There's so many questions and I don't have the variables to solve it."

"Look, I want Percy back too. He's a friend of ours." Reyna said. "But I wouldn't be so careless."

"What do you mean?"

Reyna sighed. "People change, Annabeth. It's been three years. I don't doubt that he'll return to us and he'll still be our friend. But I also don't doubt that he's going to change."

"You don't think of him as an enemy, do you?" Annabeth asked with a bit of a challenging tone.

Reyna chuckled. "Of course not, Annabeth. I'm just asking you to be careful. He might not be the same Percy as we once knew."

Annabeth bit her lower lip. She did have a point. After three years being separated by his family and friends, Annabeth doubted Percy hadn't change.

"Maybe." Annabeth said. She wanted to say something else when the sound of an eagle interrupted their conversation. Annabeth looked above to see a huge bald eagle swirling around them before going to a nosedive.

Annabeth had seen Frank do this many times so she wasn't worried as Frank slowed down right before he hit the ground and he transformed back into Frank.

"Trouble." Frank said. "A Yomi entrance has appeared in the Field of Mars."

Reyna and Annabeth went to full alert. "Is everyone there?" Reyna asked.

Frank nodded. "We're preparing for everything, but there's something wrong." He said. "You need to come quick."

Reyna and Annabeth exchanged looks before they rushed towards the Field of Mars.

The place was unnervingly silent. Temporary walls have been built with spikes all over the place with trenches being dug. It looked like a war zone before the war actually happened.

The cohorts have been assembled in files. Hannibal was prepared in full Kevlar with a special mounted rapid-firing crossbow on his back, a new addition that Annabeth had helped in suggesting.

Even with all this preparation and the Yomi being wide open to them, the Yokai have not invaded. No ghosts or demons came out of the entrance, which made it all the more suspenseful.

"We're gonna need help from one of the ninja dudes." Frank said. He and Reyna exchanged looks before nodding.

Reyna took out a piece of paper and tore it in half.

In an instant, Musei appeared out of nowhere next to them in full battle regalia. "That was quick." Frank muttered.

"So, I know you don't speak but you can understand us, right?" Reyna asked. Musei gave a slight nod. "Good. So, we're gonna need your help on sealing this entrance but so far, no Yokai have entered this side of the world."

Musei studied the situation. Under the straw hat, Annabeth couldn't see hie face clearly. After he finished analyzing their current situation, he took something out of his breast pocket, wrote something on it and then folded it several times before he blew it out of his hand. It was a bird origami made out of white paper and it flew like a real bird would.

He responded with sign language, which no one understood. "Um, I'm not good with charades." Frank said.

"I guess we're gonna have to wait to find out." Annabeth said. "We have to prepare to face the Yokai when they come out."

"The one we entered wasn't this big, was it?" Frank asked.

Annabeth shook her head. "This is a much bigger entrance. I think the amount of Yokai that's going to be flowing out of the entrance is gonna be overwhelming. We have to keep their forces bottled in so that they don't overflow to New Rome."

Reyna nodded. "What do you suggest?"

"Divide the infantry into three squadrons. One squadron will cover the left side and the other will cover the right side. Arrange them in a funnel. The third squadron should be at the end of it facing the entrance to engage with the Yokai squadron." Annabeth explained.

"I'll take the archers and place them on higher grounds so they could get a clear shot at the enemy." Frank said. Annabeth nodded in agreement. "Archers! To me!"

There was a unison cheer before a group of Romans followed Frank armed with quivers and bows.

"The center squadron should be the one with the most people, since they'll be taking the full force of the enemy." Annabeth said as she turned towards Reyna. "I assume you'll handle it?"

"Leave it to me." Reyna said. She turned towards the remaining Romans. "Romans!"

The Romans snapped in attention as Reyna gave out the orders. The legion quickly assembled according to their instructions.

That left Musei and Annabeth. Annabeth wanted to talk to him, but she didn't know how to. If Annabeth knew how to sign, it would've helped.

Annabeth felt Musei tapping her on the shoulder. Annabeth turned towards him. Musei pointed at the Yomi's entrance and then unsheathed both of his swords. Both of them were katanas, which were samurai swords with only a single edge and barely any hand guard at the hilt.

"They're coming?" Annabeth asked.

Musei nodded in confirmation. Annabeth gritted her teeth and drew her swords. "They're com-"

Annabeth didn't manage to finish her sentence as the sound of a roar filled the evening sky. The atmosphere suddenly got heavier as the temperature dropped.

Then, all hell broke loose.

All kinds of monsters and demons charged through the entrance. Annabeth knew they were outnumbered just through the sheer intensity of them coming out of the entrance.

The plan worked at least for a while before the left flank was forced to retreat. Annabeth spotted Jason flying around and zapping enemies left and right, but it did little to the Yokai's enormous number.

Thalia and the Hunt would've been helpful right now, but unfortunately they're continuing with their journey.

The two sides clashed furiously. Ghosts and Tengu were flying around and picking off Romans and dropping them at insane heights. The archers tried to shoot them down, but it's risky. If they miss, they might end up hitting their fellow Romans.

Jason noticed the problem and flew up into the sky to take care of their aerial threat.

Annabeth was busy fighting with the middle squadron, slashing down demons and monsters alongside the Romans.

Musei fought like an absolute monster. Figuratively, of course.

The speed at which he moves was unbelievably fast that he appears to be moving in a blur. Everywhere he went, Yokai fell leaving nothing but dust. His combat technique was so refined and graceful that Annabeth feels like she's watching a very well-crafted dance choreography.

Annabeth ducked under the lunge of a white fox - Kitsune - and stabbing it in the torso. A Tengu lunged at her from the sky but she rolled out of the way and slashed its head off. Annabeth saw a bunch of Yokai that looked like the ghost girl from the Ring movie. Any attempts to attack them were futile as their weapons just pass through them as if they were literal ghosts.

When the ghost Yokai pass through anyone, that person will collapse instantly. Whether they're dead or just unconscious, Annabeth couldn't tell.

Out of the corner of her eye, Annabeth could see Hazel riding Arion as she sliced used her spatha to her benefit.

"Hazel!" Annabeth called out. "Can you handle the ghosts?!"

Hazel looked over towards the ghosts and shook her head. She said something back to Annabeth but it got lost in the noise of the battle.

If they can't find a way to handle those ghosts, their forces will be dropping dead by the second.

"Glad to see I'm not the only one stuck in this mess." A familiar voice said behind her. Annabeth turned around to see Nico grinning at her. "Hey."

"Nico?" Annabeth exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I was in the neighbourhood." Nico said. "I'm gonna handle the Yurei."

"Yurei?"

"Ghosts." Nico winked. "You guys focus on the other Yokai."

"Wait, you knew?"

"Oh, you have no idea." Nico said. "But tell you about it later. We have a job to do." He said as he sprung into action.

Nico was wearing something that Annabeth would have never imagined he would wear. He legit looked like a ninja. As soon as Nico jumped into battle, the ghosts - or Yurei - scattered in all directions, as if trying to run away from Nico.

When Nico sliced one of them, their essence was absorbed into his Stygian iron sword, similar to how Greek monsters would get absorbed into his sword when they turn to dust.

Now that the Yurei wasn't a huge threat to them, they continued to push forward and contain the Yokai within the area of the Field of Mars.

Everything looked to be going great, until Annabeth felt the ground shook. It shook in intervals, shaking briefly for a bit before stopping and then shaking again. Almost like . . . giant footsteps.

Crawling out of Yomi's entrance was a very large skeleton. Giant skeletal fingers wrapped itself on the edges of the entrance. It seemed to be trying to widen the entrance by force as the Yomi entrance was getting bigger.

Then, a giant skull poked out of the hole with glowing purple orbs in its empty eye sockets. The white skull was definitely bigger than what they're seeing because only its head was sticking out and even that was huge enough to squash almost all of them with one giant headbutt.

"Oh shit." Annabeth cursed. "Fall back! Everyone fall back!"

The Romans had to fall back to avoid getting squished, but some got caught in the chaos. The giant skeleton stretched its giant hand out and swept across the Field of Mars, taking care of some unfortunate Romans and Yokai.

Thanks to the Odokuro, most of the Yokai has been wiped out by the swipe of its hand and the rest were stuck behind it. The Odokuro was now halfway out of the Yomi because its ribcage was out. Even with that alone, the Odokuro was at least twelve feet tall.

Reyna stood next to Annabeth along with Nico.

"Hey, nice seeing you here." Reyna said to Nico.

"Likewise." Nico said. "What is that thing?"

"Odokuro." Annabeth said. "I've read about it. It's a mass of dead soldiers who didn't receive proper funerary rites and they're hungry for vengeance."

"Okay. How do we kill it?" Reyna asked.

"We can't. It'll disappear once its energy and hatred disappear." Annabeth said.

"So you're saying there's no killing this thing?" Jason asked. Annabeth didn't realize that Jason had been standing next to her this whole time.

"Unless we can drain its energy, no." Annabeth admitted reluctantly. She hated knowing that the enemy is unkillable and it frustrates her.

Musei then appeared in front of her. He pointed at Odokuro then slid his thumb across his neck. Then he gestured at everyone.

"We can take it down?" Annabeth asked. Musei nodded. "How?"

He gestured at all of them and made the hand sign for _wait_.

"You want us to wait?" Musei nodded in agreement. "Why?"

Musei made a motion with his hands that looked like a bird flying. "You mean that paper bird you sent out?" Annabeth asked. Musei nodded. He then made one of the sign that Annabeth knew.

_Friend_.

"Your friend is coming?" Annabeth asked. Musei nodded. "How long will that take?"

Musei pinched his index finger and thumb together to create a little gap with them.

"In a little while, I'm guessing." Nico said. "We don't have time for that. If we don't stop that thing, it'll come out of the Yomi and destroy us."

"Yeah, I suggest we go for the kill." Reyna said. "We can tire it out and make its energy go away, right? We can do it if we work together."

Jason gave the idea some thought and looked to his friends. "So, any objections?"

"To be honest, we've faced worse." Nico said. "Let's do it."

Reyna nodded in agreement. "Romans! Tend to the wounded. We will delay the Odokuro."

"You're being insane, Reyna." A Roman argued. "That thing's huge."

"As your Praetor, I order you to stand down." Reyna insisted. "We're going to close off that entrance. You guys defend the city."

"But-"

"No buts." Reyna said. "That's an order."

The Roman looked like he wanted to argue but he just nodded. Frank then flew in as a dragon and landed next to them. Hazel arrived with Piper on the back of Arion.

"So, just like old times?" Jason grinned.

They nodded. "You're being nostalgic." Frank said. "Charge!" The seven demigods charged the battlefield towards Odokuro.

But before any of them could do anything, a fireball struck in the middle of the Field of Mars, blocking their path to the Odokuro.

When the dust cleared, Annabeth could see someone in the middle of the field. He wore a familiar orange shirt with one sword strapped on the side of his waist and another one strapped across his back.

"Who is that?" Annabeth asked although she knew the answer already. Her heart did jumping jacks at the sight of him. When he turned, Annbeth could clearly see those sea green eyes. And his smile. That stupid smile Annabeth found annoying at first but gradually become endearing.

"Percy?" Reyna muttered. "Is that him?"

"Oh my dear, you are correct." Another voice said. They tried to look for that voice but found that they were unable to move. Another person moved into their field of view.

The others probably don't know her, but Annabeth does. "Izanami?" Annabeth said thought it felt like talking with a stiff jaw. "What are you doing here?"

"Izanami? That's her? The Goddess of Death?" Frank asked.

"Watch your tongue, boy." Izanami threatened with a sweet voice. "Though this is just a manifestation of my power, it will take little effort for me to turn you into a pile of bones." Izanami then turned towards Annabeth. "As for why I'm here, well, I want to watch your friend in action."

"Percy?" Annabeth felt a ball of fire expanding in her chest. It's never a good thing when anyone has an interest in her boyfriend. The last time someone did that, they end up fighting the Primordial of the Earth, Gaia herself. "What's your business with him?"

"Oh, many things my dear. I'm afraid that's just a secret between us." Izanami winked at her.

"Let us go!" Nico said. "Percy needs our help!"

"He won't be able to take down that monster on his own. He's unable to seal the entrance as well."

"Such ignorant minds." Izanami said with a disappointing pout. "You really have no idea what he's been through, have you?"

"What are you talking about?" Jason asked.

Izanami grinned. "Observe." Izanami gestured at the battlefield where Percy and the Odokuro were in a standstill.

The Odokuro gave out a deafening roar - which was ridiculous considering the thing was all bones with no vocal chords - and tried to squash Percy like a bug.

Without moving, a stream of icicles flowed forward from where Percy was standing before one spike of giant ice erupted from the ground and blocked Odokuro's giant hand before spreading and encasing it in a giant ice block.

"Ice?" Piper asked. "Has Percy always been able to do that?"

"The Disciple of Kuraokami." Izanami said. "At least that's what they're calling him."

The Odokuro roared in anger as it tried to swipe at Percy with its other hand. Percy drew the sword on his back and sliced at Odokuro's incoming arm. At first, Annabeth thought the sword would just bounce off of Odokuro's bone and Percy would get swatted away.

But the sword caught on black flames and sliced through Odokuro's bones like butter. Its severed hand disintegrated as Odokuro roared in pain.

"Befitting his title of Amaterasu's Warriro." Izanami grinned. "The Flames of Amaterasu."

"No way." Jason said. "Those were Amaterasu's flames?"

Izanami nodded. "I know right? I'm surprised myself. And now you're going to see why they call him Ashura's Incarnation."

Ashura? Annabeth remembered the name. It was originally a term from Buddhism but was adopted into the Japanese religion. Ashura refers to an individual that has lost themselves to the thirst of battle and has no emotional connection to the world beyond seeking the next victim of their blade.

It means that Ashura is someone who has nothing in his mind but to kill.

Percy jumped towards Odokuro's head sliced its skull off with ease. He then stabbed his flaming sword straight into its eye socket. The Odokuro struggled for a bit with its body flailing wildly in search of its head, but then it went lifeless and disappeared into dust.

That was the good news.

The bad news was the only thing that blocks the thousands of Yokai from entering their world had now disappeared. The Yokai took advantage of it and stormed into the world of the living.

"Let us go, lady!" Nico said. "He needs our help!"

Izanami put one finger on her lips and gestured for Nico to keep watching

The seven of them watched as Percy took out his other sword. A bright orange aura appeared above Percy with a glowing avatar of a women. The avatar looked like an angel with a headdress that resembled the symbol of the sun and wings that spanned widely.

"Amaterasu." Jason muttered in amazement. "It's real."

"Who is Amaterasu?" Nico asked.

"The most important deity in Japanese religion." Izanami explained. "Goddess of the Sun and Universe. And she's technically my daughter."

Percy went into action and everyone watched in disbelief. Each swing of his sword brought forth waves of black flames. Each swing brought death and destruction to the Yokai.

Even though they were a considerable distance away from Percy, Annabeth could feel the intense heat from the flames.

Percy truly fought like Ashura's Incarnation, someone who's chasing death and carnage.

As he drove the Yokai back, Percy then jumped high to the skies and ran his sword through the entrance of the Yomi from top to bottom, almost as if he's slicing it in half.

The entrance to the Yomi burned up and disintegrated, leaving no trace of Yokai or Yomi.

"Ah, fascinating as always." Izanami said. "That was a good show, wasn't it?"

Annabeth still couldn't move and it doesn't seem the others could move as well. "Let us go." Jason growled. Sparks of electricity were flying off of him.

Izanami chuckled. "You're the Twins' student, I assume?" Izanami said. "Well, it does good for them to pass their powers to someone else. They were getting bored."

"Lady, I've never met you before but we're not keen on being rendered immobile like this." Nico grumbled. "Now let us go!"

"I don't appreciate your tone that much." Izanami snarled. "I think I'll start with -" Izanami never did finish her sentence as a blade was pressed against her throat.

"You'll start by releasing my friends and return to the Yomi." Percy growled.

"Hello, Percy." Izanami smiled sultrily. "How have you been? I'm just trying to get close with your friends. Though calling them your _friends _might be a bit generous. "

Percy's and Annabeth's eyes met for one brief moment and Annabeth felt bliss. That feeling she had of him was now overwhelming and almost intoxicating. Even if without Izanami's powers restraining them, Annabeth would've had a hard time holding herself back in throwing herself in to Percy's arm.

"Let them go." Percy said in an angry tone as he dug his blade a little bit deeper into her neck.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Izanami said happily. "Annabeth, did you know that Percy missed you for the three years he was missing?"

"Shut up." Percy said but Izanami had no intention of stopping.

"And for a year, he was lonely and was even contemplating suicide." Izanami said sadly. "I almost let him do it too. But instead, I kept him company."

"That's enough." Percy said, digging his blade a little deeper. Black liquid started to pour as blood from where Percy's blade was at Izanami's neck.

"I made sure that he wasn't lonely. You know the hole that you left when he disappeared? I filled that hole, Annabeth." Izanami said.

Annabeth feel her world collapsing. What was Izanami talking about?

"I said that's enough!" Percy shouted.

"One night, he left me a little present." Izanami licked her lips hungrily as she rubbed her stomach.

Percy screamed in anger as he ran his blade into Izanami's chest, but she just disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.

Annabeth could feel herself being able to move again, but none of them were eager to because they were stunned silence.

"Percy . . ." Annabeth called but Percy wouldn't meet her eyes.

"I'm sorry." Percy said miserably before he disappeared in a pillar of flames.

**A/N: Mic drop.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Slightly long A/N. Read if you want to.**

**Hey. It's been a while. So, a lot has happened. I've been busy with assignments and, well, basically dealing with life. Just went through a horrible breakup. 7 years worth of relationship went down the drain just like that. I'm not over it, obviously. I've been dealing with some things as well on the side. Been feeling down and unmotivated for the past few months. My friends told me I look depressed and I don't blame them. Been having these negative thoughts in my head that would involve my end. I really have no one to talk to, but writing has been my way of venting and expressing my feelings. It's not much, but at least it's working to an extend. So, yeah. Well, sorry to let you hear me rant. Just a few things I wanted to get off my chest.**

**Chapter 9**

Annabeth almost broke down when Percy disappeared. He was so close. The Fates teased her with his arrival only to take him away from her.

Reyna and Annabeth were in the bathhouse, trying to calm their nerves after the gruelling battle that had just took place. Frank along with Hazel were overseeing camp repairs and healing for the wounded, so Reyna decided to make use of the break she had.

"You okay?" Reyna asked with a soothing voice.

Annabeth didn't know how to answer that. For one thing, she now knew Percy was alive which lifted a ton of weight off of her shoulders. The worry of Percy she'd been carrying had now been lifted.

On the other hand, she's devastated about him being so distant and leaving again. There's also that troubling part of Izanami claiming to be harboring Percy's child, which Annabeth found hard to believe. But then again, gods and goddesses often mingle with mortals so it shouldn't be a surprise.

"To be honest, I don't know." Annabeth admitted. "I mean, I'm glad he's alive but I don't know what to think of it."

"Are you mad at him?" Reyna asked as she caressed her untied hair unbraided hair gently with warm water.

Was she? If she was, what was she mad about? The fact that he disappeared for over three years? The fact that he disappeared just when they were reunited? The fact that Percy had a baby with the enemy?

"I am." Annabeth said. "But I don't know why."

"Figures." Reyna said. "When Jason disappeared for the first time from Camp Jupiter three years ago, I was angry at him. I was angry at him for leaving me so suddenly. Then you arrived with him and all that anger just washed away. But he was already Piper . . ." Her voice trailed off.

"You hate her?"

"Oh, of course not. I love Piper." Reyna sighed. "But I guess there's a bit of resentment lingering over it. So I kinda get how you're feeling."

Annabeth managed a small smile. But her smile quickly melted away. "You think Izanami was telling the truth?"

Reyna pursed her lips. "I'm usually good at reading people, but not so much when it comes to Japanese goddesses." Reyna said. "I think whatever happened, I know Percy has his reasons."

Annabeth nodded as she let her body feel relaxed by the warmth of the water.

**Line Break**

"That was NOT the plan!" Percy shouted angrily.

Izanami sat on her throne cross-legged. Her slim black dress split apart near the legs, showing her pale thighs. Her crimson red eyes glinted with mischief as she tapped her cheek with her finger. Her hair lusciously flowed down her chest as she smiled.

"My dear," Izanami said. "I was just improvising."

"Why did you take them hostage?" Percy growled. "You told me to handle the Odokuro and close the entrance. We were not supposed to be seen."

"Oh, but it was inevitable." Izanami grinned. "I didn't know an entrance would open up right inside their camp."

Percy cursed. "Do you have any idea where Luke and Susanoo are?"

"They're well hidden, I'm afraid." Izanami said, her smile melting. "I didn't expect my son would have that much control over the Yomi."

"And your husband?"

"Ah, no need to refer to him as such." Izanami said with a pained smile. "He's up in the Heavens with your master."

"Amaterasu said she won't be joining this fight." Percy assured her.

"Oh, of course." Izanami said. "I know her. She wouldn't join this fight even if it meant she could have daytime all day long. Izanagi just thought he'd probably get some protection by staying up there."

Percy took deep breaths. He wished he'd never been dragged into this in the first place.

This was all because of Izanagi's stupid plan and idea of 'cleansing'. Izanagi had the epiphany that the world needed a good cleanse, as gods do when they get too bored with their immortal lives. He saw the world as corrupted and needed a good ol' power wash with purification.

The way he does it is by opening entrances to the Yomi all over the world. The incident originally only happened around Japan, but with godly powers being stirred around Europe and North America, it prompted the opening of Yomi entrances there as well.

Izanami of course had nothing to do with this. Izanami actually had helped in reducing the entrances' rate of opening all over the world. And yet, they think that she's the villain. Percy's the only one who knew the truth.

As for Susanoo, well, he thought that it was a good opportunity to kill his father. He'd always been a 'mama's boy' and Izanami has always favoured Susanoo who kept her company in the Yomi compared to Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu who stayed in the Heavens.

So it's technically a two sided war between Susanoo and Izanagi with Izanami trying to fix the situation. Susanoo attacked the Romans thinking that they were siding with Izanagi, which they probably are since Jason is there. Raijin and Fujin were Izanagi's descendants so it would make sense that he would support Izanagi.

Also, someone planted the idea in Susanoo's head that by sacrificing enough divine blood, he could release Izanami out of the Yomi, which was not true in the slightest. Whoever told him that needed Susanoo's help and has a different agenda.

That's the part that worries Percy. Someone set up this war within the Japanese pantheon and they were taking the brunt of it.

"How's Noah?" Percy asked.

"Oh, he's doing fine." Izanami said. "He's still learning, but Japanese gods mature way faster. He'll achieve full godhood by weekend."

Percy didn't plan to have a kid that will ascend to godhood, even temporarily. But it was Izanami's crazy plan and he didn't really have a choice.

Two years ago, a year after he was taken to Japan, he was alone. All attempts of leaving Japan had been thwarted by unknown forces. Even the seas near Japan wouldn't let him go home, and he was a child of Poseidon. It was as if something was determined to keep him in Japan.

Percy worked hard to make sure he would survive his stay there. If he was going to come home, he's going to come home alive. Studying the language had been the first barrier, but luckily the Japanese understood English to a certain degree. It took a few months but he got the hang of basic Japanese. For all that time he stayed with his newly made friend, Asanagi.

The both of them knew that they were both special when they crossed path. Percy explained his situation and Asanagi took him in to the Ashikaga Clan, a group of warriors consisting of mortals and people of godly descent. It was a weird experience for Percy, being in a foreign yet familiar environment.

Percy quickly built a reputation as being one of the best swordsman in the clan, even earning the recognition of Lord Kiraga himself. He spent a full year with the Ashikaga, earning their trust and making the best of his current situation. But deep down, he was lonely. He missed Annabeth. He missed his family. He missed his friends.

Everyday Percy tried going home but it was the same. He was not allowed to leave by something.

After a year, he was visited by Izanami, but he didn't know her at the time. She appeared with the looks of a beautiful woman, only a bit older than Percy. Izanami had been so sweet and caring about him and it made him feel elated. But even though, he wasn't going to cheat on Annabeth. He still loved her, no matter what and Percy believed that Annabeth was the same.

But Izanami took advantage of Percy's loneliness. After a few drinks and few hours of talking, they slept together that night. Only after that does Izanami reveal her true intentions.

She wanted to give birth to a god, born of Greek and Japanese pantheon to stop her husband. Percy was fuming at first but as she explained the situation, he calmed down. Especially due to the fact that he now can go home.

During the two years after he'd met Izanami, he decided to leave the Ashikaga Clan and wandered the land to get stronger. For a brief time, he tutored under Kuraokami, the Japanese God of Rain and Snow. Since he was already the son of Poseidon, his powers were magnified immensely under him.

Thanks to Kuraokami, he also met Amaterasu where she became his master for a while. Amaterasu thought it looked fun training mortals to use her powers, which is why Percy became her first ever student.

Again, since he was the son of Poseidon, handling Amaterasu's powers were harder since she was the Goddess of the Sun. The two don't really come together very well.

He'd also met Jason through the Yomi a few times, much to his surprise. At first their reunion was joyful, but it was cut short when Percy revealed who he was fighting for. Since Jason was fighting for Izanami, they didn't see eye to eye on certain things.

Now, here he was with a son destined to turn into a god that's supposed to end this war and the person he love still out of reach.

After that little incident, Percy doubted Annabeth would love him again. He'd broken her heart and have been unfaithful. He'd betrayed her.

"Why did you put the wrong idea into their heads?" Percy asked. "You know we're the good side."

"Aw, but I haven't had fun like this in ages!" Izanami said as she threw her hands up in happiness. "Being stuck down there is really awful you know."

"Yeah, I know." Percy said, remembering his fair share of memories in the Yomi. "I have to meet with her."

"Oh, you have to bring Noah with you." Izanami said.

"Why? He's not ready."

Izanami shrugged. "It'll be a good experience for him to see the mortal world. Plus, if you're gonna chase after that girl again, bring a kid as ammunition. Girls love kids."

"You're impossible." Percy rolled his eyes. "And Noah's five. He's not ready for the mortal world."

Japanese gods have three stages of growing up and they all happen within a short time. Child, teenager, adult. They will tend to look five years old for the first stage, twenty-one years old for as a teenager and they're able to change their look freely when they're an adult.

Noah is now still in the child phase, but he's about to ascend into teenager in a few days.

"Meh," Izanami said. "Five in mortal years. That's like a thousand years in god years."

"Fine." Percy said. "I'll bring him."

**Line Break**

After their hot bath, Annabeth was on her way to her house in New Rome. The streets of New Rome at night were such a contrast to Manhattan's busy sidewalks. New Rome was peacefully quiet tonight. There were some people walking around, some were couples enjoying each other's presence while some were just enjoying the silent night.

Annabeth strolled the streets and sat on the edge of a fountain that was at the center of the plaza. The silent night and trickle of the fountain water almost soothes Annabeth's heartache of Percy.

Her peace was interrupted by a kid running up to her and staring at her with his big sea green eyes.

Annabeth was surprised, but she greeted him. "Hello there," Annabeth smiled. The kid stared at Annabeth wonderingly and with curiosity, as if he was watching something very rare.

"Are you my mom?" The kid asked.

The question took Annabeth by surprise. "Um, excuse me?" Annabeth said. "You must mistook me for someone else. Are you lost?"

The kid shook his head. If Annabeth have to guess, the kid is probably five or six years old. "You definitely look like the one from Daddy's stories."

Either his father was someone who knew Annabeth or she just happened to look similar to the ones his father talked about.

"Really?" Annabeth mused at the idea. "What did your father say about this girl?"

"He said that he was in love with her. He told me how the two of them fought a lot of battles together and have known each other since he was twelve." The kid sat next to Annabeth and swung his leg. "At first she hated him, but then they fell in love."

That's funny. His story is similar to how she met Percy.

"Daddy said that the two of them had almost been killed more times than he would care to count. He was separated from her for eight months and she kicked his butt when they were reunited."

Now the story was not similar. It's _exactly _the same.

"Wait, who's your dad?"

"Hm? Oh, he's-" The kid then spotted someone coming from far away. "Oh, there he is!" He pointed excitedly.

"Noah!" The person called. The kid, Noah, jumped down from the edge of the fountain and ran towards his father. "What did I tell about wandering off?"

"Daddy, look!" Noah then gestured at Annabeth enthusiastically. "It's Mommy!"

Mommy?

Percy and Annabeth made eye contact. There were no surprise in his eyes. There were no signs of anger. Only happiness and relief.

"Hey," Percy managed a smile.

Annabeth marched towards him, stomping her feet. All the emotions that have been kept hidden inside her were now boiling to get out. She glared at Percy and swung her hand, slapping him as hard as she could.

Percy tumbled to the ground with a grunt. She could hear Noah going, "Ooh," as he winced in pain.

"I guess I-" Percy was about to stand up but Annabeth tackled him to the ground again as slammed her lips against his.

With that moment of pure bliss, all of the anger inside her vanished. Any resentment she had was gone. Everything was replaced with one single emotion: relief.

He's back. He's really back.

They lay there in each other's embrace, kissing passionately. If another Odokuro emerged from another entrance of Yomi, she wouldn't have cared.

When Annabeth pulled away, Percy chuckled. "I missed you too Anna-" Percy was met with another slap that was somehow more painful than the last.

"WHERE WERE YOU?!" Annabeth screamed. The anger reboiled in her chest. "WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU?!"

Tears were streaming down her cheeks. She gripped the collar of his shirt tightly. The anger that she thought had vanished reappeared in full force, hitting her like a truck.

Annabeth sobbed. "I looked everywhere for you." Annabeth cried. "I thought . . . I thought you were . . ."

Percy pulled her into an embrace. There, they lay together on the ground in silence for a few moments. "I'm sorry." Percy whispered softly as he caressed her hair. The smell of familiar ocean breeze entered her nose as she buried her face into Percy's chest. "I'm here now. I'm sorry, Annabeth."

Annabeth wanted it to stay like that. Just him holding her and not letting her go, but she managed to compose herself. Annabeth gently pulled away and stood up shakily. Percy sat up. If Percy stood at the sidewalk with his cheek like that, cars would've probably stopped and waited for it to turn green.

"Daddy, you suck." Noah said as he stared at them.

Percy managed a chuckle. "I know," He said.

"Come with me." Annabeth said. "Both of you."

**Line Break**

At first, Percy thought Annabeth was going to turn both of them towards the Reyna and Frank. But as Percy followed her, they arrived at a two-storey Roman-esque house with brownish clay bricks as roof and what looked like sand bricks as the walls. But it doesn't look like the ancient Roman houses, only the aesthetics. The veranda on the second floor had a telescope to make it look like an observation deck.

The house itself was surrounded with a brick wall the height of a regular picket fence. On the front lawn were several training dummies, targets for archery practice and something that looked like a very glorified doghouse.

"What's that?" Noah asked as he pointed at the doghouse.

"A temple for Athena." Annabeth answered. "It's been a while since I talked to her though."

They entered the house. The place just screams 'Annabeth' to Percy. Books were piled up in shelves, which almost filled up the entirety of the hallway. At the far end of the hall way was a room with something that looked like a drawing table with a few stacks of large papers on top of it.

On the floor arranged alongside the walls were an assortment of stuff ranging from weapons to books to footwear.

"Sorry, it's a mess." Annabeth said. "With the recent monster attacks and college assignments, it's been impossible for me to clean things up."

Annabeth led them to the kitchen which was surprisingly neat and tidy. Annabeth sat down and invited Percy to seat in front of her, to which he did.

"Now," She said in a serious tone. "Explain."

"Where do I begin . . ." Percy muttered.

"How about three years ago?" Annabeth offered.

Percy shrugged and started to explain, everything from how he disappeared, how he met Asanagi and were brought into the Ashikaga Clan, how he met Izanami, how he'd been training his whole life and how he ended up here.

"And now, here we are." Percy said.

Annabeth stared at him with her arms crossed. "That's all?"

"That's all." Percy confirmed.

Noah was bored as he started to play with forks and spoons and simulated them having a fight. "That's your son?" Annabeth asked.

Percy flinched a bit at the harshness in her voice. "Yes, he's mine." Percy reached his arms out. "Noah, come here for a bit."

Noah looked bored as he went to his father. "I'm sleepy."

Percy smiled. "His name is Noah." Percy said. "Noah, say hi to my friend, Annabeth."

"Hi to my friend Annabeth." Noah yawned.

Annabeth managed a chuckle. "We met briefly."

"Yeah." Noah said. "I know Mommy."

Percy blushed. "Let's not talk about that?"

"Mommy?" Annabeth asked.

"It's noth-"

"Daddy said that you were my mommy." Noah blurted out. "He said he wanted to take care of me with you."

Annabeth managed a laugh. "Your Daddy's being ridiculous." She ruffled Noah's hair. "Are you sleepy?"

"Mmhmm." Noah yawned again.

"I have a bed upstairs. Why don't you go ahead and take a nap?"

"Okay Mommy." Noah said as he drowsily walked to the stairs and went up.

"Mommy, huh?" Annabeth raised an eyebrow at Percy.

"It's just- um, a way for me to be motivated." Percy said nervously. Since Noah was born of Percy and Izanami, who was a goddess, technically speaking he didn't have a mother since it was from his godly side. If anyone was going to be an actual motherly figure for him, it's going to be Annabeth.

Annabeth chuckled. "I think he's cute." Annabeth said as she walked closer to Percy and caressed his cheek where she'd slapped him. "Does it hurt?"

Percy shrugged. "I've had worse."

"Well, remember that pain." Annabeth said. "That's what happens if you leave me again."

Percy chuckled and raised his hands. "I'm warned."

Annabeth smiled as they kissed again. "I love you." Annabeth whispered into the kiss.

Percy smiled as he pulled her into a deeper kiss.

Everything was going well . . . for now.

**A/N: Ta-da!**


End file.
